Trump reportedly to pardon Dr. Salomon Melgen, local Medicare fraudster
Local doctor convicted in 2018 of falsely diagnosing and treating hundreds of elderly patients
Dr. Salomon Melgen, who is serving a 17-year sentence for healthcare fraud, is said to be among the roughly 100 people who will be pardoned before President Donald Trump leaves office today, CNN and other news outlets reported Tuesday.
The 66-year-old retinologist, who operated wildly successful eye clinics from Delray Beach to Port St. Lucie, was convicted in 2018 in connection with what federal prosecutors described as the biggest Medicare fraud in the nation’s history.
More:Melgen verdict upheld; PBC eye doctor to remain in prison
By falsely diagnosing and treating hundreds of elderly patients for macular degeneration, the politically connected Juno Beach area resident raked in some $75 million, prosecutors said.
During a roughly two-month trial in U.S. District Court in West Palm Beach, some of the nation's top eye doctors said they were appalled by Melgen's tactics.
"It's terrible and disgraceful and I'm embarrassed for our entire profession," Dr. Julia Haller, ophthalmologist-in-chief at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, testified after reviewing patient charts that showed Melgen billed Medicare to treat prosthetic eyes and people who were blind.
In addition to being convicted of dozens counts of healthcare fraud, Melgen was accused of influence-peddling with his longtime friend, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez.
Prosecutors claimed Melgen and the powerful New Jersey Democrat operated a mutually beneficial bribery team. Melgen showered Menendez with gifts and campaign contributions. In return, the senator tried to pressure federal agencies to help Melgen.
Charges against Menendez and Melgen were dropped by federal prosecutors after a jury in New Jersey deadlocked after a 11-week trial in 2017.
Jack Scarola, Melgen's former attorney who represented the doctor in unrelated civil cases, said he had heard of the pardon rumor circulating but was careful to distance himself from the criminal case. He said Melgen was a "very, very good doctor who served the interest of a lot of people," including indigent patients.
"Someone who I considered to be a friend, someone who I have known for a very long period of time, suffered a significant personal tragedy that greatly impacted not only Dr. Melgen, but his entire family," Scarola said. "From that perspective, I'm pleased that he's apparently going to be getting his freedom."
If Melgen is pardoned, he will join other Palm Beach County residents who have benefited from Trump's largesse. Former County Commissioner Mary McCarty and developer James Batmasian were pardoned by Trump in December.
However, unlike Melgen, both McCarty and Batmasian had completed their prison sentences.
McCarty served 21 months after pleading guilty to using her public office to help her husband's bond underwriting business, while also admitting to accepting free or discounted hotel rooms from a business that won a county contract to build a West Palm Beach convention center hotel. Batmasian failed to pay the IRS nearly $250,000 in payroll taxes and served eight months in federal prison.
Melgen remains behind bars after an appeals court in August rejected his bid to overturn his 67 convictions.
As of 6 p.m. Tuesday, the White House had not released any news releases confirming presidential pardons.
Palm Beach Post staff writer Hannah Morse contributed to this report.
jmusgrave@pbpost.com