A former Orange County Superior Court judge who resigned from the bench and pleaded guilty this month to participating in a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme is now working with a law firm in Menifee.
Israel Claustro reactivated his state law license two days before he pleaded guilty Jan. 12 in federal court to one count of felony mail fraud for his role in defrauding a state workers’ compensation program.
Claustro’s license with the State Bar of California was deactivated while he was serving on the bench from January 2023 to January 2026. Before his election, Claustro was an experienced prosecutor in the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
The bar website indicated Claustro, 50, is specializing in family law after serving as a family law judge and is aligned with the Najera Law Group in Riverside County. He did not return a voice mail left on his extension at the firm.
Claustro is not prohibited by his federal plea agreement from practicing law.
Officials from the bar said they could not initiate a disciplinary investigation against Claustro because the criminal case was not concluded. The former judge is scheduled to be sentenced June 26. However, the bar can seek an interim suspension, but declined to comment on Claustro’s case.
Federal prosecutors are recommending Claustro serve time in home confinement, rather than prison, along with probation. The charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.
The bar website added a consumer alert to Claustro’s online profile after the Southern California News Group raised questions about his status.
While working as a prosecutor, Claustro operated the Rancho Cucamonga-based Liberty Medical Group, in violation of state law because he was not a physician or medical professional.
Among the medical group’s employees was Dr. Kevin Tien Do, a physician with a practice in Tustin. Do previously served a year in federal prison for a 2003 felony health care-fraud conviction.
Because of that conviction, Do was barred from evaluating applicants to the Workers’ Compensation Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund, a state program meant to help injured workers.
Nevertheless, Claustro had Do write up medical claims as well as evaluations and submit them to the workers’ compensation program under the names of other physicians.
The state sent more than $3 million to the Liberty Medical Group, according to the plea deal.
Do was paid $306,000. Another $1.5 million was moved to a management company owned by Claustro. It is unclear where the rest of the money went, or if any of it was used for legitimate medical claims.
Do has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and filing a false tax return. He is awaiting sentencing.
After Claustro signed the plea agreement, his attorney, Paul Meyer, issued a statement that the former judge “deeply regrets his wrongful 2022 participation in a business venture that did not involve any part of his work as a district attorney and ended before he became a judge.”
Meyer did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, in announcing the plea agreement Jan. 7, said “Judge Claustro violated the law for his personal financial benefit. We will not hesitate to prosecute anyone — judges included — who defraud public benefits intended to help those in need.”
After Claustro’s plea, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said Claustro as a prosecutor violated the office’s policy, which requires approval of outside employment, a procedure designed to safeguard against conflicts of interest.
“He betrayed his position of trust as a public servant in the most deceitful way by stealing public benefits from those who needed them the most, and he did so while masquerading as a warrior for truth and justice on behalf of the people of California,” Spitzer said.
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