After an investigation by the US Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and its Office of Inspector General, the US District Court for the Central District of California has sentenced Darren Hines, a Los Angeles chiropractor, to three months of probation and 14 months of home detention, and ordered him to make $479,352 in restitution for defrauding a maritime union welfare plan. The joint investigation found that from January 2017 through August 2018, Hines — owner of Advanced Alternative Health — engaged in a scheme to defraud the International Longshore and Warehouse Union-Pacific Maritime Association (ILWU-PMA) Welfare Plan by submitting approximately $500,000 in fraudulent claims for services not rendered and for services provided by unlicensed employees not qualified to perform them. Hines pleaded guilty in September 2019 to one count of healthcare fraud.
