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A Nipomo resident allegedly running a medical weight loss and immigration services clinic to help determine immigrant applicants' legal status faces charges of fraud and misuse of visas and permits.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) arrested Chantelle Lavergne Woods on Feb. 26 on a federal complaint detailing reported fraud carried out in an Arroyo Grande medical clinic between February 2021 and April 2024.
"In May 2022, an undercover officer involved in this investigation received a text message from Lavergne to which was attached a flyer that stated, '*[o]ur fee is $300.00 to complete the I-693 physical which includes 2 visits with us *Laboratory cost is $150.00 which includes Syphilis, Gonorrhea, and TB QuantiFERON Gold Blood tests,'" the Feb. 18 criminal complaint said.
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) requires applicants to submit records of medical examinations and vaccinations that assess physical and mental health factors.
The DOJ alleged that Lavergne, 54, produced hundreds of fraudulent health examination documents for people pursuing green card registration or otherwise adjusting their immigration status.
The criminal complaint redacted the DOJ complainant's name. The complainant discovered the Arroyo Grande clinic that advertised medical weight loss and immigration services through a website called sugarmanweightloss.com. The investigation unearthed an agreement Lavergne signed with point-of-sale terminal provider SpotOn.
"Monthly statements from Spot On for the period of June 2021 to March 2022 show that the clinic had 1,047 sales transactions with resulting deposits of $287,563.98," the complaint said.
Lavergne allegedly misused a medical license after it expired in December 2021. The surgeon who it belonged to had passed away, according to the complaint. She wrote and signed a check dated January 2022 -- almost one year after his death -- to the Medical Board of California to renew the expired license.
Investigators discovered that another surgeon at the clinic was a neonatologist who met Lavergne through a shared personal trainer. Interviews with the DOJ revealed that he volunteered at an "immigration office," which he later identified as the clinic where he reviewed vaccination records provided by immigration applicants' lawyers.
"He never conducted a physical exam on any of the immigration applicants nor did he ever see any such individuals at the clinic," the complaint said. "He never dispensed any controlled substances while associated with the clinic and terminated his association with the clinic when he learned that Lavergne was 'getting into diet pills.'"
A federal magistrate judge ordered Lavergne to be released on a $10,000 bond. She faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison if she's found guilty of the felony. Her arraignment in the U.S. District Court is scheduled for March 25.