Who Ruined Mildred Fernandez?

For a moment, let’s forget about the racketeering charges against Mildred Fernandez. On the surface, they are completely laughable. This was a vendetta against Ms. Fernandez and we’re still trying to sort out who was behind it.

Who wanted to do Mildred in? Someone did.

They succeeded.

Let us also forget about the more than $5,000 she raked in from her ‘racketeering crimes.’  A few G notes? Racketeering for several thousand dollars? No, let’s not dwell on that fistful of dollars.

This takedown of Mildred Fernandez was a coordinated effort by someone who could pull strings and spend Law Enforcement dollars in the preparation of a set-up and implementation of an under cover sting operation to catch her taking campaign contributions, in exchange for her support for a proposed development project.

What a joke. This woman was nobody’s idiot. She was scammed in to self-immolation. It happens everyday, right?

This was prosecutorial over reach and judicial malpractice against a Hispanic woman that could have been Orange County’s next mayor. An experienced politician, beloved by her constituents, re-elected in her last electoral bid with 57% of the vote, gone. Puff. Boom.

She blew herself up for several thousand dollars in campaign contributions.

Really?

While we would never condone anyone breaking the law, here’s what we should remember:

Our sitting Governor, as CEO of a major American company, knowingly and willfully, defrauded the US Government and citizens of this country. I think the story went something like this, according to Wikipedia:

On March 19, 1997, investigators from the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Health and Human Services served search warrants at Columbia/HCA facilities in El Paso and on dozens of doctors with suspected ties to the company.

Following the raids, the Columbia/HCA board of directors forced Scott to resign as Chairman and CEO. He was paid $9.88 million in a settlement. He also left owning 10 million shares of stock worth over $350 million.

In 1999, Columbia/HCA changed its name back to HCA, Inc.

In settlements reached in 2000 and 2002, Columbia/HCA pled guilty to 14 felonies and agreed to a $600+ million fine in the largest fraud settlement in US history. Columbia/HCA admitted systematically overcharging the government by claiming marketing costs as reimbursable, by striking illegal deals with home care agencies, and by filing false data about use of hospital space. They also admitted fraudulently billing Medicare and other health programs by inflating the seriousness of diagnoses and to giving doctors partnerships in company hospitals as a kickback for the doctors referring patients to HCA. They filed false cost reports, fraudulently billing Medicare for home health care workers, and paid kickbacks in the sale of home health agencies and to doctors to refer patients. In addition, they gave doctors “loans” never intending to be repaid, free rent, free office furniture, and free drugs from hospital pharmacies.

In late 2002, HCA agreed to pay the U.S. government $631 million, plus interest, and pay $17.5 million to state Medicaid agencies, in addition to $250 million paid up to that point to resolve outstanding Medicare expense claims.

In all, civil law suits cost HCA more than $2 billion to settle, by far the largest fraud settlement in US history.

Now, that’s what I call racketeering. False cost reports, fraudulently billing of Medicare and paid kickbacks.

Funny thing is, he got to pick Mildred’s replacement and she’s going to jail. But this is Florida: Land of The Sleaze and Home of the Schemers.

I urgently warn anyone reading this to be especially mindful of Mildred’s ethnicity. She is, after all a Hispanic woman from District 3, who was re-elected with 56.75% of the vote. That’s called a landslide in Orange County. She was dangerous to someone. But whom?

Bill Segal always got the blame for the takedown, but we don’t think it was him. We think it was someone else.

What do you think?