Thursday, January 8, 2026
Page 1
Orange Superior Court Judge to Plead Guilty to Mail Fraud in Workers’ Compensation Scheme
By a MetNews Staff Writer
|
|
|
ISRAEL CLAUSTRO Orange Superior Court judge |
An information charging Orange Superior Court Judge Israel Claustro with one count of mail fraud was filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California along with a plea agreement under which the jurist agreed to resign from office no later than Monday.
The charge stems from his involvement, when an attorney, with filing doctored reports with a fund associated with the state’s Division of Workers’ Compensation,
Claustro, 50, faces up to 20 years in prison. However, under the plea bargain, the Justice Department agreed to “[r]ecommend that defendant be sentenced to a term of probation with a condition of home confinement in lieu of imprisonment for a period equal to that of the low end of the applicable Sentencing Guidelines range.”
The judge admitted to running the Rancho Cucamonga-based medical corporation Liberty Medical Group Inc. without possessing the necessary healthcare credentials under California law.
Pay-Off to Doctor
According to the information, Claustro, while operating Liberty, participated in a scheme to defraud California’s Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund (“SIBTF”), an account administered by the state’s workers’ compensation program to allow recovery for employees who have an existing disability at the time of an asserted injury. Specifically, he is said to have paid Dr. Kevin Tien Do—a physician who had been suspended from participating in the workers’ compensation program due to a 2003 conviction for felony health care fraud—more than $300,000 for preparing medical evaluations, record reviews, and other documents that were submitted to SIBTF bearing the names of other doctors.
The state paid Liberty more than $3 million for billings associated with reports that were allegedly created by Do but which bore the names of other medical professionals between 2018 and 2022. The information says that $38,670 is attributable to Claustro, calculating the loss based on submissions that Claustro allegedly knew that Do had drafted after his suspension.
It is contended that the scheme was a side hustle for Claustro, who was working as an Orange County deputy district attorney at the time the fraudulent reports were submitted to SIBTF.
Do pled guilty last January to two charges of conspiring to commit mail fraud and subscribing to a false tax return. He is awaiting sentencing.
Prosecutor Comments
First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli—who continues to run the office after he was stripped of his interim U.S. attorney title in July when Senior U.S. District Judge John Michael Seabright of the District of Hawaii ruled that he had illegally overstayed his term—said yesterday:
“Judge Claustro violated the law for his personal financial benefit. We will not hesitate to prosecute anyone— judges included—who defraud public benefits intended to help those in need.”
Claustro is expected to make his first appearance in the case and enter his plea on Monday in a Santa Ana federal court.
He won his seat outright in the June 7, 2022 primary election, having secured 72.3% of the vote. His current term was set to end on Jan. 8, 2029.
Paul S. Meyer, a Costa Mesa-based attorney who represents Claustro, said:
“Judge Claustro 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. He takes full responsibility for his actions, and cooperated fully in the investigation. In good faith, with sadness, he is voluntarily resigning his judicial office.”
Copyright 2026, Metropolitan News Company