The former CEO of Manhattan’s Hospital for Special Surgery was busted by federal officials today on charges he took $1.4 million in a decade-long kickback scheme that bilked vendors a healthcare organization and even a hospital employee.
John Reynolds, 63, who was arrested at his Massachusetts home, is also charged with making false statements to law enforcement. He is expected to appear later today in federal court in Boston.
Reynolds spent 22 years as a hospital administrator, the last dozen as its chief executive officer. Authorities said Reynolds spent much of that time lining his own pockets with $420,000 he extorted from vendors in exchange for securing contracts for them.
The indictment against Reynolds said he also received nearly $300,0000 in kickbacks from a subordinate hospital employee in exchange for negotiating payment of that worker’s annual bonus.
Officials said Reynold’s greedy hands even reached beyond the Atlantic, shaking down a British healthcare organization, in exchange for using his position to approve a clinical partnership between the hospital and the organization.
All the while, he was making to the hospital’s board of directors and withholding information from them.
“By allegedly exploiting his position at the helm of a world renowned hospital for his own personal gain, John Reynolds tarnished the hospital’s reputation and did a disservice to its employees. US Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.
Reynolds was charged with racketeering and making false statements to the federal government He faces up to 20 years in prison.