A Torrance-based doctor was convicted this week of charging insurance companies for medically unnecessary procedures that included facelifts and tummy tucks, according to the U.S. Deptartment of Justice.

Lawrence Saks, a 57-year-old from Rolling Hills Estates, even used other doctors' names when submitting claims, a jury concluded. He was found guilty of four counts of health care fraud, five counts of mail fraud, four counts of false statements relating to health care matters and three counts of aggravated identity theft.

It was actually Saks' second trial. A first in November saw one juror hold out in an 11-1 vote. He ran Madison Park Cosmetic Surgery and Laser Center in Torrance and San Pedro.

The doctor actually still collected cash from patients while at the same time submitting claims to their insurance companies. He submitted $87,000 in fraudulent invoices, disguising the work completed as tumor removals and hernia repairs.

(If only Frances McDormand's plastic-surgery-chasing character in Burn After Reading knew about this guy).

Saks faces a possible 166 years in federal prison when he's sentenced in March. He also faces trial in March for allegedly defrauding insurance companies by collecting disability while telling them he was not able to work.

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