Sacramento shoe store owner, doctor indicted for allegedly defrauding VA
Federal officials charged a VA doctor and the owner of a Sacramento shoe store with fraud Friday, saying they attempted to cheat the Department of Veterans Affairs in a scheme involving the delivery of nearly $1.7 million worth of orthopedic and therapeutic shoes for veterans.
Anthony Lazzarino, 66, former chief of podiatry in the VA’s Northern California health care system, and Peter Wong, 58, founder of Sunrise Shoes in Sacramento, were charged in the scheme. Neither has been arrested but both are to appear Tuesday in U.S. District Court for arraignment.
A grand jury indictment said the two men teamed up to bill the VA for nearly $1.7 million worth of specialized shoes, some of them costing as much as $1,682 a pair, during a six-year period starting in 2009. In fact, the veterans only received “off-the-shelf” products from Sunrise Shoes.
The grand jury added that Lazzarino made sure veterans were steered to Sunrise by handing them the store’s business card and making disparaging comments about other vendors.
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