A founder and former hospital administrator at the now-defunct Forest Park Medical Center in Dallas was sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison for his role in a $40 million kickback scheme, according to the Dallas Business Journal.
Mac Burt was also ordered to forfeit nearly $4.6 million in property acquired from monetary gains from the kickback scheme, according to federal prosecutors.
Prosecutors claim that Forest Park Medical Center, before it closed in 2012, paid kickbacks to physicians in exchange for referrals. In total, the hospital dished out $40 million in kickbacks and received $200 million in insurance payouts from the bribery scheme, according to the report.
Several other medical professionals have been sentenced this week for their roles in the bribery scheme::
- Spine surgeon Shawn Henry, DO, received seven and a half years in prison
- Spine surgeon Michael Rimlawi, DO, was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison
- Bariatric surgeon and one of the medical center founders, Wade Barker, MD, was sentenced to five years in prison
- Spine surgeon Douglas Won, MD, received five years in federal prison
- Nurse and occupational injury consultant, Iris Forrest, was sentenced to three years in prison
- Pain management specialist Mike Shah, MD, was sentenced to three and a half years prison
Five other people involved in the fraud scheme are slated to be sentenced March 19.