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CNMI gets $250,000 from health settlement deal
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Posted on Jan 26 1999
The Northern Marianas yesterday received $250,000 from federal law enforcement officials as part of a settlement deal with a US-based health care provider that made illegal payments to a former commonwealth official for consultancy services.
Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio received the check handed over by federal officials which will go to the medical referral program of the Northern Marianas.
The civil settlement also included payment of $1.1 million to the US Department of Justice, Mikel W. Schwab, assistant US attorney, told a press conference attended by the governor.
The settlement deal concluded a three-year investigation into a division of the San Diego Hospital Association (SHARP), a non-profit corporation contracted by the CNMI in 1991 to provide health care for patients referred for medical treatment by the Commonwealth Health Center.
However, SHARP entered into a separate consultancy agreement with Dr. Jose L. Chong, then director for the Department of Public Health and Environmental Services, without the knowledge of the local government.
Chong, a prominent medical officer in the commonwealth, received a total of $96,000 for services provided to SHARP when the latter’s Patient Referral Agreement with CNMI was in effect from April 15, 1991 to July 1, 1994.
Schwab said, “It’s not legal to accept payments outside the normal contract that the CNMI had with medical referral providers.”
“That’s something that we would not tolerate,” he added.
Based on investigations conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the CNMI, and the Office of Inspector General, payments to Chong were arranged through the International Services Division, an office SHARP created to develop a medical referral network in the far
Pacific, including the Northern Marianas.
The former health official was charged and pled guilty to federal violation of Bribery Concerning a Government Agency Receiving Federal Funds. Chong is awaiting sentencing by the US District Court for the CNMI.
Federal officials said the investigation revealed no evidence of inadequate care or incorrect billings on the part of SHARP.
