The full quote...
"Fraud was brewing in the DNA of Rick Scott's company from the very beginning, and he was the father of it," John Schilling said at a news conference organized by the rival gubernatorial campaign of Democrat Charlie Crist.
It's an accusation not at all surprising to anyone familiar with the way the man has run the Sunshine State into the ground since 2010. He doesn't care about the People. And he doesn't care about the environment, the health of which is of dire importance in a tourism state.
An accountant who became an FBI whistleblower in a Medicare fraud investigation against a hospital chain spoke out on Monday,ter saying the companyâs former chief executive, Florida Governor Rick Scott, must have known about hundreds of millions of dollars in theft.
Rick Scott not only knew about the systemic embezzlement, he used a good portion of the money to later get himself elected.
The Reuters story comes via Raw Story
Scott, a founder of the hospital company Colombia/HCA, was ousted as its chief executive officer in 1997 but not charged in the case. The fraud led to $1.7 billion in federal penalties, which was then the largest healthcare fraud settlement in U.S. history.
The Florida Republican Party shrugged off the accusation, which Scott successfully dealt with in his 2010 election, saying Crist had become desperate in the final four weeks of the campaign.
Scott repeatedly stated during the 2010 campaign for governor that he knew nothing about the underhanded actions of his subordinates. But Schilling told investigators that under Scott's management,
Columbia/HCA was "keeping two sets of books" with one of them marked, "do not show to Medicare auditors."
Schilling said he left the company in 1995 and went to the FBI, then returned as an informant, sometimes secretly recording meetings and confidentially reporting activities to federal investigators.
Charlie Crist is hitting Scott hard and continuously with this, as he should. Scott needs to go. For those so inclined to do so, you can donate to Crist's campaign here.
P.S. -- if you'd like to read about another scandal Rick Scott is allegedly involved in, see this story from the Tampa Tribune: Scott’s Columbia/HCA case overshadowed TGH probe
It's difficult to tell what other schemes Scott's been involved in over the years.
Regardless, it's time for him to go... yesterday.