A federal judge has set a $50 million surety bond for former Florida assisted living community and skilled nursing facility owner Philip Esformes, who is awaiting retrial on healthcare fraud conspiracy charges in a case valued at more than $1 billion.
Prosecutors previously announced their intentions to retry Esformes on the main healthcare fraud conspiracy charge from his first federal court trial in 2019.
Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. set the bond during an Aug. 13 bond hearing in Florida Southern District Court in Miami, according to Law360. The bond was co-signed by Esformes’ father, Morris Esformes; his daughter, Serena Esformes; and sons Morris and Jack Esformes. A new trial date is being considered for early next year.
Under the terms of the bond, Esformes will continue his supervised release and was ordered to surrender all passport and travel documents. He also is prohibited from any contact with government witnesses from the first trial and any potential witnesses for the pending trial.
Esformes was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2019 for his role in a case the federal government described as “the largest healthcare fraud scheme charged by the U.S. Justice Department.” He was found guilty of more than 20 charges of money laundering, paying and receiving kickbacks, bribery and obstruction of justice in the $1.3 billion case. He is appealing the sentence.
The jury, however, did not reach a verdict on the main count that Esformes had conspired to defraud the Medicare program. Prosecutors also intend to retry Esformes on five additional deadlocked counts.
Esformes’ prison sentence was commuted by former President Trump in December, but other aspects of his sentence were left intact, including supervised release and restitution. He still is appealing $43 million in financial penalties stemming from his conviction, and he still owes about $5.3 million in restitution and must forfeit $38 million.
As McKnight’s Senior Living previously reported, the federal government in part alleged in 2016 that Esformes would move skilled nursing residents to his assisted living communities when they were at or near the end of Medicare’s 100-day post-hospital benefit period for skilled nursing. “After the required 60-day waiting period between consecutive admissions to an [sic] SNF, a physician or physician assistant would readmit the beneficiary to the hospital, re-initiating the cycle,” according to a federal motion.
Meanwhile, the government alleged, Esformes provided access to assisted living residents “for any healthcare provider willing to pay a kickback” — including pharmacies, home health agencies, physician groups, therapy companies, partial hospitalization programs, laboratories and diagnostic companies — even though many of the services for which they were paid were not medically necessary or were never provided.
