Judge sentences North Texas defendants in Forest Park Medical Center kickbacks fraud

Emerson Clarridge
·4 min read

Fourteen people who were convicted in the Forest Park Medical Center bribery conspiracy have been sentenced to a combined total of more than 74 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.

U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary last week sent to prison Wilton Burt, Jackson Jacob, Douglas Sung Won, Michael Bassem Rimlawi, Shawn Mark Henry, Mrugeshkumar Shah and Iris Forrest. They were convicted at trial in April 2019. Ten other defendants pleaded guilty before a trial. One defendant pleaded guilty after a mistrial.

Zouhary also ordered that the defendants pay a total of $82.9 million in restitution.

“Patient needs, not physician finances, should dictate where, when, and how patients are treated. Money should never be allowed to influence medical decisions,” acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah wrote in a statement. “We believe the stiff sentences handed down this week send a strong deterrent message: Violate anti-kickback laws, and you will face consequences.”

Physicians directed patients, particularly those with out-of-network private insurance, to the now-defunct hospital, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Dallas. Most of the kickbacks, which totaled more than $40 million, were disguised as consulting fees or marketing money calculated as a percentage of surgeries that doctors referred to Forest Park.

Instead of billing patients for out-of-network co-payments, Forest Park assured patients that they would pay in-network prices. Because they knew insurers would not tolerate such practices, they concealed the patient discounts and wrote off the difference as uncollected bad debt, prosecutors said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Dallas on Friday described the sentence terms:

Hospital manager Alan Beauchamp pleaded guilty in August 2018 to conspiracy to pay healthcare bribes and commercial bribery under the Travel Act and testified for the government during his conspirators’ trial. He said that Forest Park “bought surgeries,” and “papered it up to make it look good.” Beauchamp was sentenced on Friday to 63 months in prison.

Wilton Burt, Forest Park’s managing partner, was found guilty on 10 counts, including conspiracy, two counts of paying kickbacks, six counts of commercial bribery in violation of the Travel Act and one count of money laundering. He was sentenced on Wednesday to 150 months in prison.

Jackson Jacob, the owner of the shell companies through which some of the bribes were routed, was found guilty of conspiracy and three counts of paying kickbacks. He was sentenced Wednesday to 96 months in prison.

Dr. Douglas Won, a spinal surgeon, was found guilty of conspiracy. He was sentenced Thursday to 60 months in prison.

Dr. Michael Rimlawi, a spinal surgeon who partnered with Won, was found guilty on conspiracy and two counts of receiving kickbacks. He was sentenced on Thursday to 90 months in prison.

Dr. Shawn Henry, a spinal surgeon who invested in FMPC, was found guilty on conspiracy, commercial bribery and money laundering. He was sentenced on Wednesday to 90 months in prison.

Dr. Mrugeshkumar Shah, a pain management doctor, was found guilty on conspiracy, two counts of paying kickbacks and commercial bribery. He was sentenced on Thursday to 42 months in prison.

Iris Forrest, a nurse who recruited and preauthorized worker’s compensation requests, was convicted on conspiracy and paying kickbacks. She was sentenced on Wednesday to 36 months in prison.

Israel Ortiz, the founder of Kortmed, a company that fills out preauthorization for worker’s compensation patients, pleaded guilty in February 2017 to conspiracy to pay and receive healthcare kickbacks. He was sentenced on Thursday to 12 months in prison.

Dr. Wade Barker, a bariatric surgeon who co-founded Forest Park in 2008, pleaded guilty in October 2018 to conspiracy to pay health care bribes and paying illegal remuneration in violation of the Travel Act. He was sentenced on Thursday to 60 months in prison.

Andrew Hillman, a co-owner of Hospital Business Concepts, a surgeon brokerage, pleaded guilty in October 2018 to conspiracy to pay and receive healthcare bribes. He was sentenced in December 2019 to 60 months in prison.

Dr. Frank Gonzalez, a chiropractor who referred patients to Forest Park in return for bribes, pleaded guilty in August 2018 to conspiracy to pay and receive healthcare kickbacks. He was sentenced on Friday to 21 months in prison.

Semyon Narosov, a co-owner of Hospital Business Concepts, pleaded guilty in October 2018 to conspiracy to pay and receive healthcare bribes. He was sentenced in July 2020 to 51 months in federal prison.

Dr. Richard Toussaint Jr., an anesthesiologist who co-founded Forest Park in 2008, pleaded guilty in March 2017 to conspiracy to pay health care bribes and paying illegal remuneration in violation of the Travel Act. He was sentenced in August 2020 to 60 months in prison.

Three defendants were sentenced to probation.

Carli Hempel, who pleaded guilty in July 2019 to conspiracy to misapply property of a health care benefit program, was sentenced in October 2020 to three years of probation.

Kelly Loter and Andrea Smith, who both pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony were sentenced in January 2020 to three and five years of probation.

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