Fraud in the News

For sale: more than a doctor's reputation

A Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, doctor has agreed to put his $3 million mansion up for sale as part of his guilty plea to a health-care fraud charge, according to a Jan. 22 article by Thomas Zambito on NJ.com.

Federal prosecutors say that Benjamin Sabido, 62, pleaded guilty to his role in a three-year scheme to bill Medicare for physical therapy that was either never done or was performed by unqualified assistants, according to the NJ.com article, "Franklin Lakes doc pleads guilty to fraud, must sell $3M mansion." Sabido also has agreed to pay nearly $1 million in fines and forfeitures.

"The terms of Sabido's civil settlement agreement call for him to sell his five-bedroom home at 1085 Franklin Lakes Road, complete with bridal staircase and movie theater, as soon as possible," writes Zambito.

According to the article, Sabido faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced.

You are not a winner

Eugene Maganya, of Des Moines, Iowa, has been sentenced to two years in prison for wire fraud in a "cruel" sweepstakes scam that federal prosecutors say targeted vulnerable people, reports the Jan. 22 Chicago Tribune article, Man who ran ‘cruel' sweepstakes scam gets 2 years in prison.