Lake Havasu City – On paper, 40-year-old Jose A. Lopez was a billionaire who entered the health care industry in Lake Havasu City to help members of his community. However, according to police, Lopez is a convicted unlicensed felon who may have used his position to obtain prescription drugs for himself and others.

Lopez, who may have called himself “Dr. Joseph Lopez,” is currently awaiting trial on nearly 50 felony charges, including fraud, money laundering, forgery, computer tampering and conspiracy, and has been charged by the Arizona State Judiciary. An investigation is being conducted by the Commissioner. The Lake Havasu City Police Department released details of the ongoing case this week.

Lopez worked under the Institute for Men’s Health and Performance at 89 Civic Center Lane in Havasu, according to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. According to police, Lopez worked as a manager in Lake Lake’s office, which is home to Havasu Primary Care, under Dr. Havasu Essa Siddiqi.

The Lake Havasu City Police Department launched its initial investigation into Lopez in March 2021. A report detailing the investigation was released Wednesday.

First Suspicion and Private Investigation

Police said Lopez had been employed at Lake Havasu primary care for more than three years. When he was hired, Lopez told Siddiqi that he was independent and wealthy, and he allegedly applied for a managerial position in the office to help Havasu’s patients.

In March 2021, Sidiqi reportedly terminated Lopez’s employment after learning that Lopez may have prescribed himself drugs containing muscle relaxants using Sidiqi’s signature.

After Lopez’s dismissal, police say Siddiqui hired a private investigator to further investigate Lopez’s alleged activities. According to the investigative report, these investigators found that Lopez was the subject of multiple mortgages over $100,000 on his behalf. Investigators are also said to have learned that Lopez had a felony conviction in Arizona for a similar crime he committed in Maricopa County in 2008.

At the time of that investigation, Lopez was also found to be the owner and proprietor of the “El Chaparro Restaurant” taco stand in the town of Parker.

Investigators say Lopez is only allowed to practice massage therapy in Arizona under a license that expired last year.

criminal record

According to Maricopa County Superior Court records, Lopez was charged in 2008 with four counts of illegal medical practice, four counts of possession of dangerous drugs for sale, and two counts of possession of drugs for sale.

Lopez, a licensed massage therapist until her license expired in 2007, worked in a medical provider’s office in Phoenix. Police say Lopez may have been illegally practicing medicine for the company and may have illegally issued himself a prescription in a manner similar to the charges against him earlier this year.

According to court records, Lopez pleaded guilty in 2009 to all but one count of misconduct and one count of possession of a dangerous drug for sale.

Lopez was released in September 2018 after serving an 8.5-year sentence for the charge, according to the Arizona Department of Corrections.

current accusation

Police said Lopez did not have legal authorization to give prescriptions to patients at Lake Havasu Primary Care.

A review of Lopez’s records at Lake Havasu Primary Care revealed that Lopez had used Siddiqui’s signature to prescribe multiple prescriptions for himself, investigators said. He is also believed by investigators to have profiled patients for businesses that may not exist for the purpose of issuing fraudulent prescriptions.

According to investigators, the signature on the prescription purportedly issued by Lopez did not match the signature sample provided by Siddiqui in the case.

According to police, among those prescriptions were muscle relaxants. According to eyewitness accounts, Lopez did not receive any such physical therapy from any of the medical providers listed in Lopez’s records.

In 2021, witnesses reported that Lopez may have worked with another former Havasu Primary Care employee, identified as Bonnie Elizarraraz by the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. , was charged with conspiracy and fraud in an investigation by the Attorney General.

According to eyewitness accounts, three patients complained to staff in Siddiqui after Lopez’s employment ended.

“These patients said[Lopez]would go out of their way to prescribe a controlled substance for them,” the report said.

pending trial

Investigation of this case was turned over to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office on April 23, 2021. That investigation appeared to have ended in his December, when an Arizona grand jury indicted Lopez with four counts of fraud, one count of conspiracy and 41 counts of computers. 1 tampering, identity theft, 1 money laundering.

Lake Havasu City police officers took Lopez into custody on December 16. The location is on his 2000 block on McCulloch Boulevard.

The Attorney General’s Office is seeking assistance for residents of Lake Havasu City or Mojave County who were treated by Lopez. You will be asked to contact us.

Lopez’s next Mojave Superior Court appearance is scheduled for June 27 at the Status Conference