Lokesh S. Tantuwaya, Healthcare Fraud, California 2021

A neurosurgeon was sentenced to 5 years in federal prison for accepting approximately $3.3 million in bribes for performing spinal surgeries at a now-defunct Long Beach hospital whose owner later was imprisoned for committing a massive workers’ compensation system scam.

Lokesh S. Tantuwaya, 55, of San Diego, was sentenced by United States District Judge Josephine L. Staton, who also ordered him to forfeit his ill-gotten gains of $3.3 million on May 25, 2024.

Tantuwaya pleaded guilty on September 1, 2021 to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services mail and wire fraud and to receive illegal payments for health care referrals. He has been in federal custody since May 2021 after he was found to have violated the terms of his pretrial release.

From 2010 to 2013, Tantuwaya accepted money from Michael Drobot, who owned Pacific Hospital in Long Beach, in exchange for Tantuwaya performing spinal surgeries at that hospital. The bribe amount varied depending on the type of spinal surgery.

Pacific Hospital specialized in surgeries, especially spinal and orthopedic procedures. Drobot, who in 2018 was sentenced to 63 months in prison for his crimes in this scheme, conspired with doctors, chiropractors and marketers to pay kickbacks and bribes in return for the referral of thousands of patients to Pacific Hospital for spinal surgeries and other medical services paid for primarily through the California workers’ compensation system. During its final five years, the scheme resulted in the submission of more than $500 million in medical bills for spine surgeries involving kickbacks.

Tantuwaya entered into contracts with Drobot and Drobot-owned companies. Tantuwaya knew or deliberately was ignorant that the payments were being given to him in exchange for bringing his patient surgeries to Pacific Hospital.

In total, Tantuwaya received approximately $3.3 million in illegal payments. “Despite his privileges at San Diego-area hospitals, [Tantuwaya] caused several patients to travel from Imperial County and San Diego County up to Pacific Hospital for spine surgery so that [Tantuwaya] could get his bribes,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum.