Recently in Saks Category

Just got word that a federal judge declared a mistrial in the insurance fraud case against Lawrence Saks, a former plastic surgeon who practiced in Torrance and San Pedro. No details yet, but check later for a story on dailybreeze.com.

Jurors in the Lawrence Saks insurance fraud trial sent a note to a judge on Wednesday indicating that they are deadlocked on all 16 counts, according to a court clerk.

The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California jury will return to court Thursday. It is expected Judge Consuelo Marshall will speak to them and they will continue their discussions, the clerk added.

The jury has deliberated about two days on the charges.

The Rolling Hills resident, who practiced plastic surgery in Torrance and San Pedro, is accused of double-billing insurance companies on four procedures.

He claims the procedures were medically necessary and the documents he filed were accurate.

I poked my head into the Lawrence Saks trial still underway at the federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles today.

On the stand was a Torrance woman who said she went to Saks for a tummy tuck and breast augmentation in 2007. Yuki Komoto said she paid Saks $25,000 for the elective procedure, and he never once mentioned anything to her about repairing a hernia while she was out cold during the procedure.

Based on what I've seen so far, the inference is he billed her insurance company claiming he performed the medically-necessary procedure in order to get paid twice ... although it's likely he probably didn't, the prosecution is trying to prove.

The defense case should begin soon. I'm expecting closings later this week or early next week.

 

Just got word that opening statements were this morning at the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in downtown Los Angeles, and that the first witness is on the stand. Lawrence Saks, whose medical license was taken away last December, is on trial before Judge Consuelo Marshall for two indictments - one alleging he worked while collecting disability payments and the other claiming he double-billed insurance companies for procedures.

The former plastic surgeon and Rolling Hills resident, who had offices in Torrance and San Pedro, served six months in a federal penitentiary for a 1990 tax evasion case.

Everytime we write about Dr. Lawrence Saks, the Torrance and San Pedro plastic surgeon who can't seem to avoid trouble with the law, we almost always hear from a former or current patient with their own tale of woe or, at the very least, reports of suspicious behavior.

In response to yesterday's story about new charges against Saks, a former patient who asked that her name not be used wrote this:

Hello Denise,

I was looking for some article that I wanted to catch up from last week, and happened to see your headline "Former Torrance Plastic Surgeon faces additional charges" ,   I immediately thought about Dr. Saks and sure it was.  I usually don't watch news or read papers regularly and I was away from the area for some years during the time so I didn't know about it until now (Dah).  It is interesting to know it caught up with him this far now.  It seems have been going on for a while too.  I was his patient around year 2000.  I knew they were doing something wrong but didn't do anything about it at the time because I feared the Dr. Saks would come after me for the ridiculous claims he was making with the insurance company (mine was Aetna) despite I thought he charged me too much for what he did from my pocket (tummy tack and breast augmentation).  I knew he was pocketing mega $$ so fast.  I wonder where the all beautiful Mac Chagall Lithographs are now that were at his clinic on PCH.

Dr. Lawrence Saks' federal fraud and money laundering trial, scheduled to begin tomorrow, was postponed until next year, according to the court's online docket. The new date is Feb. 9, 2009 - so mark your calendars now. Based on the feeback I get on this case, it's going to be sell-out.

Saks, a Rolling Hills resident, is out on bail, but a judge ruled a couple weeks ago he no longer has to be electronically monitored.

Dr. Lawrence Saks may have become infamous in the South Bay, but he hails from north of the border. Canada's National Post reports today on Sak's beginnings, and his current problems with the medical board and the law. No new information on the charges, but some quotes from family that are kinda interesting as well as some background about his life.

Federal prison records show that Saks, a Rolling Hills resident, bailed out of jail late last month. He is due back in a federal courtroom in Los Angeles on Monday for a pretrial hearing.