Philip Esform Booking Photo Courtesy of Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation
Source: Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation
Philip Esformes, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his part in a massive $1.3 billion Medicare fraud scheme, and whose sentence was commuted by then-President Donald Trump in 2020, was arrested in Florida over the weekend on domestic violence-related charges. It was done.
Esformes is at least the seventh person to receive a presidential pardon from President Trump, who has since reportedly been charged with new crimes. new york timeswhich first reported the arrest.
In August, Jonathan Brown, a convicted New York drug dealer and predatory financier whose sentence was commuted to 10 years in prison by President Trump in 2021, was charged with assaulting his father-in-law and his wife in separate incidents. It was done.
Esformes was arrested Saturday and later charged with criminal mischief with victim or witness fraud and criminal damage to property, according to court records.
He was booked into the Miami-Dade County Jail on Sunday, his 56th birthday.
Esformes was released Monday after posting bail totaling $1,650 in two separate cases, a jail spokeswoman said.
Esforms’ attorney had no immediate comment on the arrest.
CNBC has reached out to a spokesperson for President Trump’s campaign for comment.
CNBC also reached out to Esform’s attorney for his ex-wife, Sherry Beth Esform, whose divorce from Esform was finalized in July 2020.
Sherry Beth Esforms filed a petition in August in her ex-husband’s federal health care fraud case, claiming 50% ownership in numerous businesses and properties that Philip Esforms deemed seizable. Resolved a $38.7 million foreclosure judgment in this case.
Shelley Beth’s attorney wrote that his legal rights to the property outweighed the U.S. government’s interest in the property, thereby invalidating the forfeiture order.
By failing to include Shelley Beth as the record owner of the properties, the application states, her ex-husband “breached Ms. Esformes’ confidence and acquired these properties by fraudulent or illegal means.” It is stated that.
On Tuesday, a Miami federal judge set a Nov. 4 deadline for Philip Esformes to respond to his ex-wife’s claims.
Phillip Esformes, who owned a Florida nursing home, was charged in a 2019 trial with 20 charges related to what the Justice Department said at the time was the largest health care fraud scheme ever prosecuted. was convicted on criminal charges.
For more than two decades, Esformes and his co-conspirators circulated thousands of Medicare and Medicaid patients through a network of nursing and assisted living facilities, even though they were not eligible for such care, the Justice Department said. Ta.
Trump commuted Esformes’ sentence at the end of 2020, allowing him to be released immediately.
white house, announce transfersaid at the time, “This commutation is supported by former Attorney General Edwin Meese, former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, and former Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson.”
“Additionally, former attorneys general Edwin Meese, John Ashcroft, and Alberto Gonzalez, as well as prominent legal figures such as Ken Starr, have been convicted based on prosecutorial misconduct related to attorney violations. Objected and filed in support of his appeal.”
The White House added: “While in prison, Mr. Esformes, 52, has devoted himself to prayer and repentance, and his health is deteriorating.”
But the Justice Department has since begun re-examining six criminal charges that the jury deadlocked on in Esformes’ first trial.
Esformes has been fighting these efforts for several years, but in February agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. he was sentenced to prison.
In September, the New York Times reported in detail on the process. 6 other convictsBrown and others were arrested after receiving presidential pardons from President Trump. Administrative pardons include pardons that vacate convictions for federal crimes and commutations that terminate prison or prison sentences.
The pardon recipients detailed in the article include former White House adviser Steve Bannon, rapper Kodak Black, investment fraudster Eliyahu Weinstein, robber Jamie Davidson, and Fake Energy. They included drinks scammer Adriana Campbellos.
