From: mha23x@gmail.com   
      
   Healthcare   
   'Notorious' healthcare exec charged in $1B fraud plan now accused of bribery   
   by Ilene MacDonald | Feb 13, 2017 11:14am   
   handcuffs   
   In addition to conspiracy, obstruction, money laundering and healthcare fraud,   
   Philip Esformes now faces charges of bribery.   
      
      
      
   He’s been charged with helping to orchestrate one of the biggest healthcare   
   fraud schemes to date, and now Philip Esformes is in even more hot water. The   
   Justice Department has added bribery to charges of conspiracy, obstruction,   
   money laundering and    
   healthcare fraud.   
      
   Esformes, who made FierceHealthcare’s list of most notorious healthcare   
   executives in 2016, was the owner of Esformes Network, a chain of more than 30   
   skilled nursing and assisted-living facilities in Miami, Florida. Since July   
   2016 he’s been behind    
   bars at the Miami Federal Detention Center while he awaits trial in federal   
   court on charges that he and his two conspirators stole $1 billion through an   
   elaborate kickback scheme that funneled patients between various Miami   
   healthcare facilities.   
      
   RELATED: Special report: 11 notorious healthcare leaders in 2016   
      
   Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell called the scheme “ruthlessly   
   efficient,” with conspirators using a network of corrupt providers to   
   shuffle patients between various healthcare facilities while exchanging   
   kickbacks disguised in various    
   sham agreements.   
      
   But this month the Miami Herald reports that the Justice Department added a   
   new charge to the list, accusing Esformes of giving thousands of dollars to a   
   state Agency for Health Care Administration employee in exchange for patient   
   complaints and    
   inspection schedules so he could fix the problems prior to the inspections.   
      
   Michael Pasano,  Esformes’ defense attorney. told the newspaper that his   
   client is innocent and  the latest charge repeats many of the other   
   allegations and is based on claims made by “admitted criminals who in return   
   for lesser sentences have    
   pointed fingers at Mr. Esformes.”   
      
   If convicted, the newspaper reports Esformes could face life in prison and the   
   Justice Department could seize his two homes and numerous other properties he   
   allegedly purchased with the Medicare money he obtained illegally.   
      
   Read more on Fraud, Skilled Nursing Facilities, Lawsuits, Centers for Medicare   
   & Medicaid Services, Ethics, Philip Esformes, Department of Justice, DOJ   
      
      
      
   http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/healthcare/notorious-healthcare-   
   x-charged-1b-fraud-plan-now-accused-bribery   
      
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