Dr. David Hobart Payne, 65, of Irvine, California, has been convicted of various offences arising from a medical referrals scheme. Payne was one of a number of doctors and others who sent patients to Drobot's hospital which billed in the region of USD500 million to, primarily, the California workers' compensation scheme.

Payne sent the patients and performed surgery. Drobot paid him up to USD15,000 for each surgery performed. The biggest bribes were reserved for where Payne used a spinal implant sold by one of Drobot's companies. In total payments of USD315,000 were made, with false invoices being produced to hide the scheme.

To date, 24 defendants, among them doctors and surgeons, have been convicted for participating in the kickback scheme.

Payne had pleaded not guilty but at the end of a six-day trial, he lost. The hospital was sold in by Drobot.

In January 2020, also a former owner of the hospital was jailed for 15 months. Faustino Bernadett, 65, approved false contracts which hid more than USD30 million in kickbacks. He had bought the hospital from Drobot in 2005. In 2013, an unrelated healthcare chain bought it and renamed it. But a different unrelated business uses the same name today.