12 Oct 2012
A
Former Indiana surgeon who was on the run for five years was sentenced
to seven years in prison for billing insurance companies and patients
for surgeries he did not perform.
U.S district judge Phillip Simon imposed severe sentence-more than expected against the surgeon Mark Weinberger who ran a nose and sinus clinic with 40 employees in Indiana until he disappeared during a vacation to Europe.
Weinberger used his patients to make $ 30 million in three years. Judge Simon said he used his patients as ATM machines before he fled. ‘I am very certain he knew at the time his world was collapsing around him,’ Simon said. ‘Instead of addressing this collapsing, he fled from it.’, judge Simon said.
The surgeon was married to Michelle Kramer before he fled. He left her with a $ six million debt by virtually abandoning her in the middle of the night. When the couple married in 2003, he was in possession of an expensive jet, a yacht and a five bed-room town home.
He brought home $ 200,000 every month, he threw three parties and to commemorate their marriage including one in Italy. Just days before Kramer’s 30th birthday he had told her that he was taking her on a yachting vacation to the Greek Islands, but when she woke up, he was gone without a trace.
Investigators said the escape plan was planned months before and executed meticulously to avoid being prosecuted for 300 odd financial crimes he committed under the noses of his 40 employees.
His wife who was left high and dry and with mounting debts filed for bankruptcy and with little resources mounted an international hunt for the man she married.
Weinberger was arrested at snowy mountain side in Italy in 2009 for living in a tent without prior authorization from the local authorities. During the arrest he stabbed himself in the neck to avoid extradition to U.S.
Weinberger admitted for 22 felony counts of health care fraud. He hoped he would get a lesser sentence for the time he served.
‘I’m sorry. I lied. I stole. I betrayed a sacred trust. I have no excuse. There is no excuse. I am sorry,’ Weinberger said.
Only hope is that Weinberger who will serve four more years in prison would not try bilk money off the prison health-care system?
Source: Daily Mail and AP
U.S district judge Phillip Simon imposed severe sentence-more than expected against the surgeon Mark Weinberger who ran a nose and sinus clinic with 40 employees in Indiana until he disappeared during a vacation to Europe.
Weinberger used his patients to make $ 30 million in three years. Judge Simon said he used his patients as ATM machines before he fled. ‘I am very certain he knew at the time his world was collapsing around him,’ Simon said. ‘Instead of addressing this collapsing, he fled from it.’, judge Simon said.
The surgeon was married to Michelle Kramer before he fled. He left her with a $ six million debt by virtually abandoning her in the middle of the night. When the couple married in 2003, he was in possession of an expensive jet, a yacht and a five bed-room town home.
He brought home $ 200,000 every month, he threw three parties and to commemorate their marriage including one in Italy. Just days before Kramer’s 30th birthday he had told her that he was taking her on a yachting vacation to the Greek Islands, but when she woke up, he was gone without a trace.
Investigators said the escape plan was planned months before and executed meticulously to avoid being prosecuted for 300 odd financial crimes he committed under the noses of his 40 employees.
His wife who was left high and dry and with mounting debts filed for bankruptcy and with little resources mounted an international hunt for the man she married.
Weinberger was arrested at snowy mountain side in Italy in 2009 for living in a tent without prior authorization from the local authorities. During the arrest he stabbed himself in the neck to avoid extradition to U.S.
Weinberger admitted for 22 felony counts of health care fraud. He hoped he would get a lesser sentence for the time he served.
‘I’m sorry. I lied. I stole. I betrayed a sacred trust. I have no excuse. There is no excuse. I am sorry,’ Weinberger said.
Only hope is that Weinberger who will serve four more years in prison would not try bilk money off the prison health-care system?
Source: Daily Mail and AP
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