Sacred Heart Hospital owner out on bond
Last Modified: Apr 20, 2013 02:08AM
A wealthy hospital owner accused of cashing in by
illegally preying on poor and elderly patients demonstrated his financial might
Friday when he walked out of federal lockup after posting $4 million in cash.
Edward Novak, 58, will also be required to post a
further $6 million bond next week to stay free.
It shouldn’t be a problem.
The owner of the West Side’s Sacred Heart Hospital
is worth a cool $25 million, prosecutors say.
But Novak allegedly made part of that fortune
overseeing a ghoulish Medicare and Medicaid scam in which he bribed doctors to
hospitalize, drug and operate on vulnerable patients unnecessarily.
Locked up since a raid on his for-profit hospital
Tuesday, he was freed Friday night after a hearing in federal court.
Prosecutor Joel Hammerman had warned Magistrate
Judge Daniel Martin that Novak’s wealth and his attempts to cover up his alleged
schemes made him a flight risk. Novak “purchased patients” and “treated them as
commodities,” then tried to conceal his assets from the court, Hammerman said as
Novak furiously shook his head in denial.
But defense attorney Robert Gevirtz countered that
he was “bewildered” by prosecutors’ attempts to keep Novak locked up.
“They’re making a federal case out of a federal
case,” he joked, adding that defendants in similar kickback cases are typically
released without posting cash. Gevirtz also accused the U.S. Attorney’s office
of playing to the media in the high-profile case.
Martin disagreed that the case was typical, but
eventually released Novak after he agreed to post a total of $10 million, to
surrender his passport and to wear an electronic tracking bracelet until next
week.
The hospital owner’s freedom before the weekend
was only finally secured when his wife dramatically ran into the courtroom
clutching a $4 million check with just moments to spare.
Friday’s hearing also revealed that Novak wasn’t
the only rich guy accused in the alleged scam.
Dr. Venkateswara Kuchipudi, who allegedly took
kickbacks from Novak to refer cases to Sacred Heart, had $4 million in assets
frozen as a condition of his release.
And the hospital’s finance chief Roy Payawal had
to post $2 million in assets to get out.
Four other doctors accused in the case have been
released without posting bonds.
The Sun-Times revealed earlier this week that one
of the five patients who died at Sacred Heart after undergoing potentially
questionable surgeries was 48-year-old South Sider Naaman Durham, whose family
say they may now s
http://www.suntimes.com/19596123-761/sacred-heart-hospital-owner-out-on-bond.html
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for commenting.
Your comment will be held for approval by the blog owner.