A former hospital honcho has been handed a prison sentence for lining his pockets with over $620,000 of healthcare funds. Robert Spadoni, the ex-Chief Operating Officer of an unnamed Illinois hospital, will now be spending a year and a half behind bars for his illicit gain.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Spadoni set up a sham company, Medical Education Solutions, Inc., to funnel money directly into his own pocket. The scam ran from 2013 to 2021, where the hospital was tricked into truly believing that they were paying for legitimate administrative support and compliance services.
During the course of the fraud, Spadoni had a family member open a bank account for the fake company through which he siphoned off the hospital's money for his personal bounty, which included restaurant binges and luxury hotel stays. On top of that, he shamelessly put over $225,000 into his 401(k) retirement account.
Spadoni's scheme was unveiled through diligent work by the FBI and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul's office. After pleading guilty to a mail fraud charge, the 59-year-old from Darien, Illinois, was finally sentenced by U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly on a Tuesday. Alongside his prison stint, he was also ordered to pay back every cent of the $622,500 he'd slyly stolen.
Morris Pasqual, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, along with officials from the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, spearheaded the government's case against Spadoni.
