Four hospital vendors will be serving prison time after being sentenced for a bribery scheme in which they defrauded Florida’s Memorial Healthcare System, FierceHealthcare.com reports. The bribery scheme involved the vendors paying kickbacks to hospital executives in exchange for $15 million contracts with the public hospital system. The news report states that a former director of facilities management at Memorial West in Pembroke Pine took money and in-kind payments with "kickbacks worth thousands of dollars in home improvements in exchange for the contracts."
The state attorney general's office reports that though many of the vendors did the work, the invoices to Memorial Regional Hospital and Memorial Hospital West, two hospitals under the Memorial Healthcare System, were substantially inflated. The four hospital vendors in this case and three hospital executives were arrested in June of 2011. One hospital vendor was sentenced to three and a half years in prison, two were sentenced to 18 months each, and one was sentenced to three years probation. In addition, the convicted vendors must also pay restitution for the $15 million scheme.
According to a spokeswoman for the Memorial Healthcare System, the Attorney's Office praised Memorial Healthcare for their cooperation with the investigation. She asserts that since the case was handed over to authorities, the organization was "proactive with all of the investigating agencies to bring this case to conclusion."
The state of Florida takes bribery charges very seriously, and anyone convicted may face severe penalties. In order to protect you against harsh punishments that can negatively impact your future, contact a Broward County bribery defense attorney at Musca Law. Our legal team will craft an aggressive defense that will aim to get you the best possible results in your case. For a no-cost case evaluation, please call (888) 484-5057.