Former Rush Oak Park Hospital executive charged with fraud
The former vice president and chief operating officer of Rush Oak Park Hospital has been indicted on federal money laundering and fraud charges alleging he defrauded the hospital out of about $622,500.
Robert Spadoni, 58, of Darien, was charged with three counts of mail fraud and three counts of money laundering Wednesday, according to an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Chicago.
Spadoni allegedly led the hospital to contract with a company he established for administrative support and compliance services for the hospital’s podiatry residency program. Under the agreement the hospital allegedly paid $6,500 a month to the company, even though Spadoni knew the company wouldn’t provide the services. Instead, he allegedly paid one of his direct reports $1,500 a month in cash to perform the services and then pocketed the rest, according to the indictment.
The alleged fraud scheme began in 2013 and lasted until about July 2021, according to the indictment.
Attempts to reach Spadoni were not immediately successful Thursday evening.
Rush University System for Health said in a statement that its new leadership identified a potential misappropriation of funds in the summer of 2021. As soon as the misappropriation was identified, the employee was removed and the hospital began a detailed forensic audit and an internal investigation.
“We continue to work closely with the proper authorities as the case enters the next phase,” Rush said in the statement. “The new leadership team at Rush Oak Park Hospital has implemented a number of strategic initiatives intended to bolster the trusted relationships we all expect from our health care providers.”
Bruce Elegant led Rush Oak Park Hospital for more than 20 years before retiring as president and CEO at the end of June. Dr. Dino Rumoro took over as CEO July 1, after working as chairperson of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Rush University Medical Center.
Each count of mail fraud carries up to 20 years in prison and each count of money laundering up to 10 years.
