{"id":2532507,"date":"2026-01-11T10:26:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T15:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-judge-pleads-guilty-in-fraud-scheme-involving-an-injury-compensation-fund\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T10:28:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T15:28:12","slug":"california-judge-pleads-guilty-in-fraud-scheme-involving-an-injury-compensation-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-judge-pleads-guilty-in-fraud-scheme-involving-an-injury-compensation-fund\/","title":{"rendered":"California Judge Pleads Guilty in Fraud Scheme Involving an Injury Compensation Fund"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcalifornia-judge-pleads-guilty-in-fraud-scheme-involving-an-injury-compensation-fund%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2532507&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Orange County Superior Court Judge israel Claustro has pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud for his role in a scheme that defrauded California&#8217;s Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund. Claustro ran Liberty Medical Group Inc. without a required medical license, paid Dr. Kevin Tien Do-who had a prior felony health-care fraud conviction and was suspended from the state workers&#8217; compensation program-more then $300,000 to prepare medical evaluations, then concealed Do&#8217;s authorship by listing other doctors on billing forms and reports. Although Liberty received &#8220;hundreds of thousands&#8221; from the fund, prosecutors say the loss attributable to Claustro&#8217;s actions is about $38,670. Claustro, elected to the bench in 2022 and serving in family court, agreed to resign, cooperated with investigators, and is scheduled to appear in federal court on Jan. 12; the offense carries a statutory maximum of 20 years. Dr. Do pleaded guilty in January 2025 to related charges and faces sentencing in the coming months.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>An Orange County, California, Superior Court judge was federally charged with defrauding the state&rsquo;s workers&rsquo; compensation program, according to a news release.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Attorney&rsquo;s Office for the Central District of California <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-cdca\/pr\/orange-county-judge-agrees-plead-guilty-knowingly-paying-convicted-doctor-work-workers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">announced<\/a> Wednesday that 50-year-old Israel Claustro was charged with one count of mail fraud. Officials said Claustro signed a plea agreement to the felony charge.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Judge Claustro violated the law for his personal financial benefit,&rdquo; First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli said. &ldquo;We will not hesitate to prosecute anyone &mdash; judges included &mdash; who defraud public benefits intended to help those in need.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Claustro was elected to the Superior Court in 2022, serving in family court. According to officials, Claustro admitted to defrauding a special fund administered by the state&rsquo;s workers&rsquo; compensation program known as California&rsquo;s Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund.<\/p>\n<p>The fund is designed &ldquo;to provide additional compensation to injured workers who already had a disability or impairment at the time of a subsequent injury,&rdquo; officials said.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Claustro defrauded the fund by operating a medical corporation, Liberty Medical Group Inc., despite not holding a physician or medical license, which is required under state law. Through the operation, Claustro paid Liberty employee Dr. Kevin Tien Do more than $300,000 &ldquo;for preparing medical evaluations, medical record reviews, and med-legal reports.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In 2003, Do was convicted of <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >felony health care fraud<\/a> and served one year in federal prison. By 2018, he was suspended from participating in California&rsquo;s workers&rsquo; compensation program. Despite the suspension, which Claustro was aware of, Do continued working for Liberty.<\/p>\n<p>Under Claustro&rsquo;s direction, Liberty mailed the prepared reports to the trust fund while concealing the fact that Do had authored them &ldquo;by listing other doctors&rsquo; names on the billing forms and reports.&rdquo; As a result of the fraudulent submissions, Liberty received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the fund, officials said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The loss amount from Claustro&rsquo;s participation in this scheme is approximately $38,670 &mdash; the amount SIBTF paid to Liberty based on reports Claustro knew Do had drafted after his suspension from SIBTF,&rdquo; the news release said.<\/p>\n<p>In response to the plea, Claustro&rsquo;s attorney Paul Meyer released a statement that the judge &ldquo;deeply regrets his wrongful 2022 participation in a business venture that did not involve any part of his work as a district attorney and ended before he became a judge,&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ocregister.com\/2026\/01\/07\/orange-county-judge-admits-to-federal-felony-agrees-to-resign\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">according<\/a> to the Orange County Register.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;He takes full responsibility for his actions and cooperated fully in the investigation,&rdquo; Meyer wrote. &ldquo;In good faith, with sadness, he is voluntarily resigning his judicial office.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In January 2025, Do pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/president-trump-please-pardon-jon-woods-a-victim-of-process-crimes-like-michael-flynn\/\" title=\"President Trump, Please Pardon Jon Woods, a Victim of Process Crimes Like Michael Flynn\">commit mail fraud<\/a> and one count of subscribing to a false tax return. Claustro is expected to be make his appearance in court on Jan. 12, with Do&rsquo;s sentencing in the coming months.<\/p>\n<p>The charge Claustro pleaded guilty to carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. Prosecutors are, however, reportedly recommending that the doctor serve time in home confinement over prison, as well as probation, the Orange County Register reported.<\/p>\n<div class=\"disclaimer\">\n<p><em>All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/union-membership-plummets-to-record-low\/\" title=\"Union Membership Plummets to Record Low\">legitimate news publisher<\/a> that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter&rsquo;s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! 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