Robert Spadoni, former RUSH Oak Park Hospital vice president and chief operating officer, plead guilty to federal fraud for stealing $622,500 in a scheme.
A hearing took place Monday, in which Spadoni plead guilty to a mail fraud charge, according to the United States Attorney’s Office, punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.
The sentencing will take place April 30, 2024. Spadoni admitted in a plea agreement that from 2013 to 2021 he defrauded the hospital out of money through a billing scheme.
The former attorney orchestrated the hospital’s agreement with Medical Education Solutions, a company Spadoni created to execute the scheme. The hospital agreed to pay $6,500 a month for services that Spadoni knew would not be provided.
Spadoni pocketed the payments in a bank account opened in a relative’s name, according to the United States Attorney’s Office. He hid the fraud by paying a hospital employee $1,500 to provide the administrative and compliance services.
In the plea agreement, Spadoni admits to using the money for personal gain such as restaurant meals and hotel rooms, in addition to $225,805 transferred into his 401(k), according to the United States Attorney’s Office.