One of Trump's commutations that didn't make big news...
Guy steals billions from the government, but Trump lets him off the hook.
Figures.
Trump grants clemency to egregious healthcare fraudster
President Donald Trump has commuted the sentence of Philip Esformes of Miami Beach, whose crimes involved $1.3 billion in fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid for services at his network of nursing and assisted-living facilities in Florida. Esformes was convicted in 2019 in what federal prosecutors termed "the largest healthcare fraud scheme ever charged by the Department of Justice." He was sentenced to 20 years in prison on 20 felony counts. Esformes must still pay the amount left of the $5.5 million in restitution that was part of his sentence. In their pre-sentencing memorandum, federal prosecutors described Esformes' conduct as "pernicious, premeditated, and part of a lifelong pattern of disrespect for the law. . . . This was not one criminal act, but hundreds of choices to break the law, even thousands, for more than a decade." [Hiltzik M. He was convicted in a historic healthcare fraud. Trump is letting him walk free.yahoo! news, Dec 29, 2020] A 2016 indictment of Esformes, hospital administrator Odette Barcha, and physician assistant Arnaldo Carmouze, alleged:
Esformes’ network of facilities gave him access to thousands of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.
Many of these beneficiaries did not qualify for skilled nursing home care or for placement in an assisted-living facility; however, Esformes and his co-conspirators nevertheless admitted them to Esformes Network facilities where the beneficiaries received medically unnecessary services that were billed to Medicare and Medicaid.
Esformes and his co-conspirators further enriched themselves by receiving kickbacks to steer these beneficiaries to other providers who performed medically unnecessary treatments that were billed to Medicare and Medicaid.
To hide them from law enforcement, kickbacks were often paid in cash, or were disguised as payments to charitable donations, payments for services, and sham lease payments.
Esformes and hospital administrator Odette Barcha were also charged with obstructing justice.
Court documents indicate that in 2006, Esformes paid $15.4 million to resolve a civil fraud case that involved unnecessarily admitting patients from his assisted-living facilities into a Miami-area hospital.
https://news.yahoo.com/column-convicted-historic-healthcare-fraud-130035152.html
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