Owner of Acupuncture Clinics Chain Pleads No Contest to Insurance Fraud

SARATOGA (CBS SF/BCN) – Santa Clara County prosecutors announced Thursday that the owner of four acupuncture clinics in the South Bay plead no contest to felony insurance fraud and violating California's aggravated white-collar statute.

Dr. Hidenori Anto, who also went by Dr. Yunyong Lu, a 61-year-old Saratoga resident, entered the plea as part of an agreement to serve a year in county jail, be on probation for five years, and make restitution of $400,000, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Between 2016 and 2020, Anto misclassified patient treatments, billed for treatments that never occurred, and hid his identity from insurance carriers, prosecutors said.

The clinics Anto has operated are Anto Acupuncture and Herb Clinic on Pacifica Drive in Cupertino, Vitality Acupuncture Clinic on West El Camino Real in Mountain View, Prospect Acupuncture on Prospect Road in Saratoga, and Green Creek Acupuncture on Stevens Creek Boulevard in Cupertino.

"Medical providers hold a unique position of trust with their patients. When they use that status to defraud insurance companies and line their own pockets, they increase our insurance rates and harm the public's confidence in our healthcare system," Deputy District Attorney Mattia Corsiglia said in a statement.

© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. and Bay City News Service. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.