A federal court sentenced Dr. Claribel Tan to six and a half years in prison and three years of supervised release after a 15-year healthcare fraud and tax evasion scheme that billed insurers more than $12.5 million and caused over $4.2 million in tax loss.
Federal prosecutors say the fraud began after Dr. Tan and her husband, Daniel Tan, opened a rheumatology clinic in Anchorage in 2005 and carried out deceptive billing practices from roughly 2009 through 2024. The couple allegedly misrepresented what medications were given to patients and then billed health plans for costly injectable drugs that had not been purchased or administered.
Prosecutors detailed how Claribel Tan, 61, treated autoimmune and musculoskeletal conditions and administered injections while Daniel Tan, 70, served as the clinic’s office manager. The husband pleaded guilty alongside his wife and was sentenced to three years of probation, with two years to be served in home confinement.
Investigators allege Claribel Tan routinely gave patients free samples, expired drugs and different medications than those listed on claims, while billing insurers as if she had provided the prescribed, high-cost injections. Court records say the clinic billed for 4,829 units of medication but purchased only 369 units, a disparity that underpins the bulk of the $12.5 million loss to more than 10 insurance plans.
The Tans also face charges tied to tax filings and reporting. Authorities say the couple overstated clinic expenses on returns for 2014, 2015 and 2017 to underreport income, and willfully failed to file clinic tax returns from 2018 through 2021, producing an IRS loss of more than $4.2 million.
In July 2019, law enforcement executed a search warrant at the clinic and reportedly found stockpiles of expired medications intended for at-home use, free samples marked not-for-sale, and syringes that had been improperly stored and reconstituted. Some of the expired medications were intermixed with active supplies, raising patient-safety concerns.
After the 2019 search the Tans briefly resumed legitimate purchases, but by 2021 they allegedly reverted to the same billing scheme that had generated large reimbursements while minimizing clinic expenses. Federal prosecutors say the pattern continued until a grand jury indicted the couple in July 2024.
The Tans entered guilty pleas in November 2025 to one count of healthcare fraud and one count of tax evasion in the District of Alaska. Following those pleas, authorities seized about $10.4 million in proceeds tied to the alleged fraud, and the couple agreed to forfeit that amount as part of plea agreements.
As part of restitution and civil resolutions, the Tans submitted a $6.3 million payment toward a future restitution judgment and paid roughly $1.8 million to resolve civil claims under the False Claims Act. A district judge will set a separate hearing to determine the precise restitution amount, and Claribel Tan surrendered her medical license.
The investigation involved multiple federal and state agencies, including the Department of Defense Criminal Investigative Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, the FBI, Defense Contract Audit Agency, Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General Criminal Investigations Division, Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration, Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations, Office of Personnel Management Office of the Inspector General, and the State of Alaska Division of Insurance Investigation Unit.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman for the District of Alaska announced the case. Trial Attorney Dominick Giovanniello of the Criminal Division’s Tax Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Beausang of the District of Alaska prosecuted the criminal case, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Jackie Traini led the civil fraud investigation.
