A Florida healthcare executive is appealing $43 million in financial penalties after President Donald Trump commuted his 20-year prison sentence in December, according to law.com.
Philip Esformes, who operated a chain of skilled nursing facilities and assisted living facilities in Florida, was sentenced Sep. 12 to 20 years in prison. The sentencing came roughly five months after a 12-person jury found him guilty of more than 20 charges, including paying and receiving kickbacks, money laundering and bribery. He was convicted after an eight-week trial for his role in a $1.3 billion Medicare and Medicaid fraud case.
President Trump in late December commuted Mr. Esformes' prison sentence. The communication left other aspects of his sentence intact, including restitution.
Mr. Esformes still must forfeit $38 million and owes about $5 million in restitution, according to McKnight's Senior Living. In the appeal of the financial penalties, lawyers cite the federal government's "inability to show a single instance of fraudulent billing," according to the report.
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