WASHINGTON (AP) — Ben Carson is defending his continuing business relationship with a close friend convicted of defrauding insurance companies.
At a campaign stop in South Carolina on Friday, the Republican presidential candidate said he has no regrets over helping Alfonso A. Costa avoid prison time. Carson appeared as a character witness at the 2008 sentencing hearing for the Pittsburgh dentist, who pleaded guilty to health care fraud.
The Associated Press reported Thursday that Carson has invested millions in real estate deals through a firm run by Costa, whose dentistry license was revoked following his felony conviction. According to financial disclosure forms, Carson and his wife make between $200,000 and $2 million a year from those investments.
In a 2013 book, Carson called for severe penalties for those convicted of health care fraud.
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Grifters have to stick together. It’s part of their code.
If I had a dime for every Republican fraudster in America, I could retire tomorrow and never have to worry about hitting the lottery…
Real tough on crime, there, Dr. Carson. Can I commit medial fraud and expect the same treatment? No, you cannot have any of my loot! Oh, then I guess it’s off to prison for me, eh?
Hypocrisy thy name is Carson. But then he is a Republican, so no surprise there.
I believe that this revelation will end Ben’s candidacy, and he instinctively knows it; the bargain to reveal “names” from his past if the media “plays fair”.