FL Hospital Vendors Sentenced in Bribery Scheme

Four former healthcare vendors have been sentenced to prison terms of up to three and a half years for their roles in a bribery scheme that directed cash, goods and services to South Florida hospital executives in exchange for contracts worth $15 million, federal prosecutors said.

The four vendors are among the nine people, including three hospital executives, arrested last June in the bribery probe at two hospitals in Fort Lauderdale-based Memorial Healthcare System.

Sentenced for federal bribery convictions this month in U.S. District Court were: Thomas Kennedy, 44, of Davie, FL, to three and a half years in prison and three years of supervised released; Richard Cohen, 45, of Wellington, and Paul Chaiet, 48, a CPA, of Dania, to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release each; and Thomas Pacchioli, 52, of Weston, to three years probation with 180 days home confinement. The four former vendors were ordered to pay restitution.

Court documents and trial testimony showed that co-defendant Adil Osman, 64, the former director of facilities management at Memorial West in Pembroke Pines, accepted kickbacks from the vendors for thousands of dollars in home improvements, including new gutters, a swimming pool, fencing, and an electric generator.

In exchange, Osman awarded inflated contracts to the vendors that concealed the value of the services they provided for him, federal prosecutors said.

Prosecutors described a "nearly identical kickback scheme" that involved former "team leaders" Elliot Gordon and Anthony Merola at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, FL. Both men pleaded guilty last year and are now serving prison sentences. Osman is scheduled to be sentenced on June 1, along with former vendor Robert Andrei, 70, of Davie.

Kerting Baldwin, a spokeswoman for Memorial Healthcare System, said the provider fully cooperated with the investigation. "The United States Attorney's Office has commended our management and security personnel for their assistance in this investigation," Baldwin said. "Ever since we discovered irregularities in the Plant Engineering Department and turned over the case to the proper authorities, we have been proactive with all of the investigating agencies to bring this case to conclusion."