An Anchorage doctor was sentenced to six and a half years in prison and three years of supervised release for executing a $12.5 million healthcare fraud scheme and evading over $4 million in taxes on the profits of that 15-year scheme. Her husband and co-defendant was sentenced to three years of probation, with two years to be served in home confinement. According to court documents and statements made in court, Dr. Claribel Tan, 61, and her husband, Daniel Tan, 70, operated a rheumatology medical clinic in Anchorage starting in 2005. Claribel Tan specialized in the treatment of autoimmune and musculoskeletal diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and psoriatic arthritis, and she prescribed injectable medications to treat those conditions. Daniel Tan assisted as an officer manager at the clinic.
Beginning in 2009 and continuing through 2024, the Tans deceived patients about the medications Claribel Tan administered through injections and then fraudulently billed health insurance plans for reimbursement of medications that the Tans did not purchase. Claribel Tan routinely and surreptitiously injected patients with free samples, expired medications and medications other than those prescribed. The Tans then knowingly billed insurance plans as if she had provided a proper injection to each patient. Specifically, the Tans claimed to have administered 4,829 units of the medications to patients, and billed the insurance plans for that amount, despite only purchasing 369 units of medication. In addition to creating significant health risks for the patients, the Tans’ fraud scheme caused a loss of over $12.5 to more than 10 insurance plans.