Weight-loss surgeons falsified records, defrauded patients, insurers out of $250 million, prosecutors allege

For years, it was hard to miss the billboards and radio jingles for a weight loss surgery center that promised, "Let your new life begin, call 1-800-GET-THIN."

But on Wednesday, federal prosecutors charged that the Lap-Band surgery operation was at the center of a massive fraud scheme that forced...