FLORIDA — Long-term care businessman Philip Esformes was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being convicted of running a $1.3 billion Medicare fraud scheme through his network of nursing homes.
The sentence was delivered by Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. in the U.S. Southern District of Florida in mid-September. Prosecutors sought at least a 30-year sentence, while his attorneys asked for leniency. A hearing will be held in November to determine final forfeiture and restitution amounts.
Esformes apologized for his actions during his sentencing hearing, saying “there was no one to blame but myself” and that he’s “lost everything I loved and cared about.”
In April, a jury found him guilty on 20 charges of bribery, money laundering and paying and receiving kickbacks in schemes that occurred between 1998 and 2016.
Esformes bribed doctors to admit patients and then cycled them through his nursing and assisted living facilities, where they often received medically unnecessary services, or no care at all, according to the Department of Justice.
From the October 2019 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
