Robert Bourseau, the former owner of City of Angels Medical Center in Los Angeles, was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison for his role in a scheme to provide illegal kickbacks for the recruitment of homeless patients to come to the hospital for unnecessary treatments, according to a story in the Los Angeles Times.
In addition to the prison sentence, Mr. Bourseau was ordered to pay $4.1 million in restitution for his part in the Medicare fraud. Last month, Mr. Bourseau and the hospital's other former owner, Rudra Sabaratnam, MD, agreed to pay $10 million to resolve a civil lawsuit filed by the United States and California in connection with the kickback scheme.
Dr. Sabaratnam pleaded guilty in 2008 to paying kickbacks and is scheduled to be sentenced April 5, according to the Times. Dante Nicholson, a former senior vice president of the hospital, who also pleaded guilty to paying kickbacks for patient referrals, is expected to be sentenced in June.
Read the Los Angeles Times story about the City of Angels Medical Center.