A Dallas doctor who co-founded Forest Park Medical Center, the surgical hospital at the heart of a $200 million medical fraud prosecution, has been sentenced to 5 ½ years in federal prison.
Richard Toussaint, who is already serving a 41-month federal prison sentence for a separate fraud conviction, pleaded guilty to his involvement in the Forest Park scheme in March 2018 and agreed to co-operate with federal authorities.
The 66-month sentence handed down on Monday by U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary will be served concurrent to Toussaint’s current sentence.
Toussaint, an anesthesiologist, helped start the boutique Dallas hospital whose egregious insurance billings led to a federal investigation that culminated in the indictment of 21 people in 2016.
Toussaint entered into a plea agreement with federal authorities, but was not called to testify in the trial that resulted in the conviction of seven people, including four doctors, on charges of paying or receiving bribes to direct well-insured patients to Forest Park.
Toussaint admitted to running a scheme to defraud Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, United Healthcare, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, Aetna, Cigna, Humana and others by submitting by submitting fraudulent claims for anesthesia services.
Toussaint falsely claimed to be present for these services when he was actually: under anesthesia undergoing surgery himself; aboard his private jet; in another state, or at another hospital miles away.
Sentencing is pending for several other principals in the Forest Park case, including Dr. Wade Barker, Toussaint’s partner in Forest Park; Alan Beauchamp and Mac Burt, the two non-physicians who ran Forest Park for Toussaint and Barker; and Drs. Douglas Won, Michael Rimlawi, Shawn Henry and Mrugeshkumar Shah, all of whom were found guilty of charges related to referring patients to Forest Park in return for bribes and kickbacks.