Jan 5, 2009 8:22 am US/Eastern
Pharmed Founders Face Fraud, Tax Evasion Sentences
Pharmed Was Once The 8th Largest Hispanic-Owned Business In America
Declared Bankruptcy In 2007
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
-
-
Carlos and Jorge de Céspedes
Miami Herald
Two brothers who founded the now-bankrupt Pharmed medical supply company, which was once the eighth-largest Hispanic-owned business in America, are scheduled to be sentenced Monday on fraud and tax conspiracy charges.
Carlos and Jorge de Céspedes, have admitted in court that their company, The Pharmed Group, used former employees at Kendall Regional Medical Center to place millions of dollars in fake medical supply orders.
Those hospital employees, who were also arrested, were then given a kickback of thousands of dollars a month for a period of 6 years.
Officials say the fraudulent orders, involving $2.5 million to $7.5 million, weren't noticed right away because Pharmed was a large supplier and the phony purchases were just a small amount of the legitimate business that the medical supply company did with the hospital.
The brothers' tax fraud was uncovered by the IRS during a routine audit in 2005. The IRS claims the brothers failed to report nearly 22-million dollars in legitimate earnings between 2001-2003 and stiffed Uncle Sam out of 8-million dollars in taxes.
The brothers have asked that their prison terms be limited to four years or less, because they took a plea deal and because of their charitable and civic contributions.
Carlos and Jorge de Céspedes were well known businessmen and philanthropists in the South Florida community and once paid millions to Florida International University to have the Panthers Arena named the Pharmed Arena. The Pharmed name has since been removed.
They are also part owners of the NBA Charlotte Bobcats basketball team.
Pharmed filed for bankruptcy in 2007.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Double Homicide In NW Miami-Dade
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
