The ex-owner of Pacific Hospital in Long Beach, already serving prison time for a nearly $1 billion billing fraud scheme, will plead guilty to charges of selling off his luxury cars and keeping the money for himself instead of forfeiting the cash to the government, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Michael D. Drobot, 74, is expected to enter his plea in the coming weeks to charges of wire fraud, engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activity and criminal contempt of court. The charges carry up to 50 years in federal prison.
Drobot pleaded guilty in 2014 to charges of conspiracy and paying illegal kickbacks, admitting he paid millions of dollars in bribes to doctors who in turn steered hundreds of millions of dollars in spinal surgeries to his hospital.
He was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to forfeit $10 million to the government, in part by selling off a 1965 Aston Martin, a 1958 Porsche and a 1971 Mercedes-Benz. But federal prosecutors claim he arranged a $1 million transfer of the Aston Martin to a car-auction company, and the money was transferred to Drobot’s personal bank account and used for personal expenses instead of being used to satisfy the court judgment.