South Carolina man sentenced for wire fraud, money laundering

A man from South Carolina who faced federal charges for the role he played in a health care fraud scheme was recently sentenced after pleading guilty last November. The 53-year-old man was one of three people charged with defrauding over 17,000 individuals across the country. The charges against him included mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and health plan embezzlement.

In his guilty plea, the man admitted to participating — along with his co-conspirators — in selling supposed health care coverage to individuals. However, there was no insurance company backing for the plans. The South Carolina man acknowledged that he and his co-conspirators then embezzled the premiums paid by unsuspecting clients. Court documents showed that over $5.4 million was thus diverted into their personal accounts for own use.

Furthermore, most of the claims filed by holders of the health care plans went unpaid, and the accused man is being held responsible for such losses to the value of approximately $7.3 million. He was sentenced to spend 82 months in prison. He was ordered to pay restitution and forfeiture of $6,524,888.86.

This federal court conviction will have a lasting impact on the life of this South Carolina man. However, the sentence might have been more severe had he not entered a guilty plea, presumably resulting from plea negotiations with prosecutors. A criminal defense attorney who is experienced in defending cases involving accusations of white collar crimes, such as wire fraud and money laundering, can provide guidance and support throughout the entirety of the criminal court proceedings.

Source: enewspf.com, “South Carolina Man Sentenced to 82 Months in Prison for Role in Nationwide Health Care Benefits Scheme“, Feb. 26, 2016