A California man has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for orchestrating a massive fraud scheme that bilked the state's Medi-Cal program out of nearly $270 million. Paul Richard Randall, 67, of Orange, was also ordered to pay more than $178 million in restitution after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud in April 2026.
The scheme, which ran for 11 months through Monte Vista Pharmacy, allegedly involved submitting claims for high-reimbursement, non-contracted generic drugs that were medically unnecessary, frequently never dispensed to patients, and obtained through illegal kickbacks. First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli stated that Randall exploited perceived weaknesses in California's systems to submit the fraudulent claims.
Court documents detail staggering price markups, with one prescription for generic meloxicam 5 mg billed at approximately $13,424, despite a typical cost of $5 to $25 for a 30-day supply of higher dosages. Pain creams and an over-the-counter vitamin called Folite tablets were also part of the alleged fraud.
Prosecutors described a network of payoffs facilitating the operation. Patient marketers allegedly received kickbacks for Medi-Cal beneficiary information, while nurse practitioner Patricia Anderson, 59, of West Hills, was paid to sign pre-filled prescriptions without meeting or verifying the medical necessity for the patients. Pharmacist and pharmacy owner Kyrollos Mekail, 38, of Moreno Valley, was also implicated.
From May 2022 to April 2023, the operation submitted $269,120,829 in false claims to Medi-Cal, with the program paying out approximately $178,746,556.
Randall was reportedly already on release in another federal criminal tax case when he carried out the Medi-Cal fraud. The government has since seized approximately $126.5 million in assets linked to the scheme, including $111 million in bank funds and securities, nine luxury vehicles valued at about $1 million, nine properties worth approximately $13.5 million, and over $1 million in sports memorabilia. Among the seized items were luxury cars, properties, and Kobe Bryant sneakers.
Essayli commented that the sentence is among the highest for healthcare fraud in the Central District of California and urged California to improve its systems to prevent such looting of taxpayer funds before it occurs, rather than attempting to recover money after it has been stolen.