Psychiatrist, Wife Charged With Conspiracy To Defraud

A Tacoma psychiatrist and his wife have been charged with taking part in a conspiracy that allegedly defrauded state and federal agencies out of up to $4 million a month.

Dr. Jessy Ang provided about 200 patients, most of them Southeast Asian refugees, with false diagnoses of mental illnesses to qualify them for welfare and Social Security benefits, the federal charge alleges.

The charge also says Ang overbilled the state Department of Social and Health Services for dozens of individual 60- to 90-minute diagnostic sessions with the patients. The sessions lasted only a few minutes or were conducted en masse, the charge claims.

Ang and his wife, Editha, appeared Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate J. Kelley Arnold. The judge allowed the couple to leave jail after they promised to deliver deeds to a $350,000 rental home in West Seattle and an Everett office building they own as security for their reappearance next Friday.

U.S. District Judge Robert Bryan previously had issued a temporary restraining order preventing the Angs from selling or mortgaging their Gig Harbor home and their Tacoma office building.