Meyers to stand trial in Oregon

Andrew Glazer

The recently fired director of the Costa Mesa Senior Center will stand

trial in Klamath Falls, Ore., for allegedly bilking a nonprofit health

clinic of nearly $10,000, a judge decided Tuesday.

Alan M. Meyers, 59, has pleaded not guilty. The trial is set to begin in

October.

Costa Mesa Police Lt. Ron Smith on Wednesday said the department is close

to requesting that prosecutors also file theft charges against Meyers.

Meyers was fired by the senior center board in May after it learned that

Costa Mesa police were investigating whether he had invented his

credentials, impersonated doctors and stole money from dozens of clinics

across the country during his 30-year career.

Meyers denied any wrongdoing in Costa Mesa the day he was fired. Since

then, he has declined repeated requests for comment.

Costa Mesa police have not filed charges but continue to look into

Meyers’ case.

Investigators said they strongly believe Meyers used the alias Carmi

Bar-Ilan more than 20 years ago. Bar-Ilan was convicted of armed robbery

and served 15 months in a federal prison for attempting to strangle a

doctor he was impersonating.

While Smith said investigators haven’t found money missing from senior

center coffers, he did say he believed the board hired Meyers based on a

bogus resume. If so, Smith said his salary could be considered stolen

money.

Officials from the Klamath Falls Open Door Clinic, a free health clinic

serving mostly migrant farm workers, alleged that Meyers submitted phony

expense reports for more than $8,500. Meyers was executive director of

the clinic for five months, until June 1999.

Meyers, an Anaheim resident, turned himself in to police in December

after a Klamath Falls judge issued a warrant for his arrest.