WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Prosecutors are arguing that a Florida doctor’s profound wealth and international ties increase the chances that he’d flee to avoid charges in a massive Medicare fraud scheme.
At the opening of a detention hearing Friday for 60-year-old Salomon Melgen, the government said the ophthalmologist earned more than $200 million from his practice since 2008 and is close to high-ranking officials in his native Dominican Republic.
Defense attorneys will make their case for Melgen’s release when the hearing resumes Friday afternoon.
In terse exchanges with Magistrate Judge James Hopkins, the defense was questioned on its conversations withcourt staff before the hearing amid suggestions of “judge shopping.”
Melgen is charged with corruption alongside New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez. Melgen pleaded not guilty in the separate New Jersey case that accused him of trading donations, flights and vacations for favors from Menendez.
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