The Orange County District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday it arrested and charged 12 people in an undercover insurance over-billing scheme.

Eight of the persons arrested were chiropractors, and one was an attorney. The arrests took place Monday and Tuesday.

The sting targeting illegal patient referral and insurance over-billing schemes.

Dubbed Operation K-Fraud, short for Knockout Fraudulent Attorneys and Unscrupulous Doctors, the sting sought to eliminate fraud in the county.

Based on a list compiled by the National Insurance Crime Bureau, the district attorney’s office sent 248 letters to medical providers suspected of engaging in fraudulent practices or billing.

The letter outlined opportunities for medical professionals to engage in an illegal fee-splitting scheme with a fake attorney’s storefront office set up by the district attorney’s office.

The scheme involved medical professionals agreeing to pay up to 30 percent of specific patient billings to district attorney undercover investigators posing as law-office administrators in exchange for that patient’s referral.

Undercover investigators also posed as patients who claimed to be suffering from soft-tissue damage from car accidents.

Of the 248 letters, 20 inquired about the scheme and 12 were netted by the DA’s office.

Chiropractor Mark Allen Tichelaar, 50, of Anaheim was charged with one felony count of insurance fraud, one felony count of grand theft and two felony counts of unlawfully offering or receiving consideration by a claims handler for referral.

Chiropractor Tam Van Nguyen, 34, of Westminster was charged with one felony count of insurance fraud, one felony count of grand theft and one felony count of unlawfully offering or receiving consideration by a claims handler for referral.

Chiropractor Florin Catinas, 35, of Anaheim was charged with two counts of insurance fraud, two counts of grand theft and two counts of unlawfully offering or receiving consideration by a claims handler for referral.

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