A former executive at Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Broward Health is facing charges of bribery and money-laundering, according to an indictment made public last week.
Brian Bravo, former corporate procurement officer and director of materials management at Broward Health, faces up to 60 years in prison and up to a $1.25 million fine if convicted of all charges.
According to prosecutors, Mr. Bravo orchestrated a bribery and kickback scheme between 2008 and 2015 that involved four vendors, two unnamed co-conspirators and at least one family member. Three of the vendors in the scheme allegedly received $22 million in procurement contracts from Broward Health during the time in question.
According to prosecutors, Mr. Bravo steered contracts to these unnamed vendors in exchange for $600,000 in kickbacks, vacations to tropical places and other items, including World Cup tickets.
In an effort to shield the kickbacks from vendors, Mr. Bravo instructed vendors to send checks to Ecosafe, a Florida company owned by an unnamed relative to hide kickback payments he received from vendors, the indictment claims.
Mr. Bravo pleaded not guilty Jan. 8 in federal court in Fort Lauderdale to charges of bribery, money-laundering and extortion. He was released later that day on a $200,000 bond, according to The Florida Sun Sentinel.
Mr. Bravo was fired from Broward Health in 2015.
The unsealed indictment comes nearly five years after a federal grand jury subpoenaed Broward Health in relation to an FBI probe that demanded purchasing documents from the public health system.
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