Any hope that Tulare County’s most complicated white collar criminal prosecution would be tossed out was summarily extinguished on Thursday.
The case is a wide-ranging prosecution of three top executives of Healthcare Conglomerate Associates – Dr. Yorai Benzeevi, Alan Germany, and Bruce Greene – the one-time operators of Tulare Regional Medical Center.
The three are alleged to have engaged in fraud, money laundering, embezzlement, self-dealing, amid a litany of other crimes.
Thursday, Tulare County Superior Court Judge Michael Sheltzer denied a motion to dismiss by the trio.
Lawyers for the three executives argued that Tulare County prosecutors were exceedingly vague in charging documents and demanded that Sheltzer either compel Tulare County DA Tim Ward to elaborate on the basis of the charges or dismiss the case outright.
Sheltzer declined to dismiss, finding that prosecutors met the minimum levels of specificity, writing that charging documents “contained more information than is needed.”
The three return to court in January for formal arraignment.
