Los Angeles, Calif., Mar 11, 2008 / 03:30 am
A federal whistleblower lawsuit filed by a former Planned Parenthood executive alleges that nine affiliates in California knowingly engaged in a criminal plot to defraud millions of dollars from state and federal taxpayers over a period of at least six years, the California Catholic Daily reports.
According to one of the allegations, Planned Parenthood used its charitable statues to purchase contraceptives and other medicine at a discount rate. It then billed the state health program for twelve or more times the purchase price. The alleged malfeasance cost taxpayers perhaps more than $10 million per year.
Victor Gonzalez, former vice-president for finance and administration of Planned Parenthood-Los Angeles secretly filed the suit in 2005 in a U.S. District Court in Los Angeles under the federal False Claims Act. The suit was unsealed earlier this week following a review by the U.S. attorney’s office.
Gonzalez, who worked for Planned Parenthood from December of 2002 until March of 2004, alleges he was fired for bringing "illegal accounting, billing and donations practices” to the attention of his superiors. The lawsuit alleges that Planned Parenthood’s irregular billing practices began in the late 1990s and continued until 2004, when the organization persuaded the state legislature to change the law, allowing it to bill the higher rates.