Federal Judge Approves Seizure of $2 Million in Alleged Pasadena Medicare Fraud Case

Medicare (File Photo – myhfsadvisors)

A federal judge has authorized the seizure of more than $2 million from a Pasadena wound‑care clinic at the center of a sweeping Medicare fraud investigation, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

By News Desk

Magistrate Judge Alicia G. Rosenberg approved the government’s request late Monday to take up to $2,039,792 from a bank account tied to Expert Wound Care PC. Prosecutors say the clinic billed Medicare for skin grafts and skin‑substitute procedures that were never performed.

An affidavit supporting the seizure outlines what investigators describe as an explosive spike in the clinic’s Medicare billing. Between September 2025 and April 2026, Expert Wound Care submitted more than $46.6 million in claims for services supposedly provided to just 78 patients. Medicare paid out roughly $34 million of that amount.

Billing far above national norms

Federal investigators say the clinic’s billing patterns were wildly out of line with national averages.

• From January to June 2025, the typical allowed amount per skin‑substitute claim nationwide was $16,837.
• From July 2025 to March 2026, Expert Wound Care averaged about $37,449 per claim—more than double the norm.

The clinic’s Medicare reimbursements jumped from less than $5,000 in July 2025 to about $33 million by December of the same year.

One patient alone accounted for more than $6.2 million in Medicare payments, with an average of nearly $300,000 paid per beneficiary across the clinic’s caseload.

Claims for procedures never performed

Investigators say one beneficiary was billed for more than $2.6 million in skin‑substitute grafts and 52 graft‑application procedures between October 2025 and February 2026. Medicare paid about $2 million of that amount. According to law enforcement, the patient never received any grafts—and did not receive any home‑based care in December 2025, despite the clinic filing 27 claims for that month.

Expert Wound Care’s billing patterns were extreme across the board:

• 38.5% of its patients were listed as receiving skin‑substitute grafts, compared with a national average of 6%.
• 63% of its total claims involved skin‑substitute grafts, nine times the national rate.
• 99.9% of its allowed reimbursement amounts were tied to those grafts, more than double the national average.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Galatzan of the Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Section is overseeing the case.