Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced that Jose Andres Lopez has been sentenced to 3.5 years in prison, following by a 7-year term of supervised probation, and ordered to pay $45,000 back in restitution after defrauding the medical practice where he was employed. Between June 2017 through March 2021, Jose Lopez was employed by a medical clinic located in Mohave County. The doctor who owned the clinic came to trust Lopez over time, and during the course of Lopez’s employment he was promoted to office manager. Lopez’s position as office manager involved managing various aspects of the practice, including access to the doctor’s login information for the electronic records management and prescription system. On numerous occasions in 2020 and 2021, Lopez used this access to send unauthorized prescriptions for himself and another employee.
Furthermore, between February 2020 and December 2020, Lopez created multiple false patient visit records for himself in the clinic’s electronic medical records system, which portrayed that he was receiving physical therapy treatment from the doctor. Lopez was not a patient of the doctor nor did the doctor treat Lopez as portrayed in these records. These patient records produced billing records that were submitted to two insurance carriers for a personal injury claim made by Lopez due to an automobile accident. Based upon these submissions, the insurance companies paid a sum of at least $45,000.00 to settle Lopez’s personal injury claim.