[blindlaw] justice served; blind lawyer convicted

Tue May 13 23:09:50 CDT 2008

wow, that's interesting news on so many levels.

On Tue, May 13, 2008 at 7:16 PM, David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com> wrote:

>
> >From: "Ray Foret jr" <rforetjr at comcast.net>
> >To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> >Date: Tue, 13 May 2008 11:59:54 -0500
> >Subject: [nfb-talk] justice served; blind lawyer convicted
> >
> >While I was watching "Eye Witness News" on Channel 4 last night, they
> said
> >that Barry Scheur was convicted of all charges against him.  Can you
> believe
> >that Barry Scheur had the unmitigated Gaul to try to claim that, because
> he
> >is blind, he can't read or understand financial documents?  I'm glad the
> >judge didn't buy that.  What I didn't tell you until now was this.  Barry
> >Scheur and my famly's paths crossed because we were at one time under his
> >so-called coverage; under what was then known as "The Oath Of Louisiana".
>  .
> >Would you believe it, he claimed that because of his blindness, he had a
> >unique understanding of the health issues which his customers (now
> victims)
> >faced.  Then, one day, we got a letter from him indicating that because
> of
> >financial hardship, he was forced to sell the company to some other firm.
> >Justice has indeed been served.
> >
> >Here are the stories I found about this.
> >
> >Blind Lawyer Ruled Competent to Stand Trial in Fraud Case
> >
> >Leigh Jones
> >The National Law Journal
> >May 1, 2008
> >
> >A federal judge in Louisiana has ruled that Barry Scheur, a managed
> >care executive who is an attorney and is blind, is competent to
> >stand trial in the government's
> >case that alleges fraud and conspiracy in the management of a
> >now-defunct health insurer.
> >
> >Scheur, a Yale Law School graduate and former partner at LeBoeuf,
> >Lamb, Leiby & MacRae, along with two other former executives are
> >charged with unlawfully
> >paying themselves $6.1 million and misleading the Louisiana
> >Department of Insurance into believing that the insurer, The Oath
> >for Louisiana, was operating
> >in the black.
> >
> >Scheur's attorney, James A. Brown, a partner with Liskow & Lewis in
> >New Orleans, had argued that Scheur was unable to read and
> >comprehend the financial
> >statements that are the heart of the government's case.
> >
> >"He has been totally blind since birth," Brown said. "He is not in a
> >position to assimilate these financial statements." U.S. District
> >Judge Eldon Fallon,
> >in the Eastern District of Louisiana was not persuaded. "Scheur
> >began his career by working for several law firms before accepting
> >an in-house counsel
> >position with a healthcare organization," the judge wrote. "Indeed,
> >Scheur has touted himself as a 'managed care iconoclast.'" The judge
> >determined that
> >Scheur can use his hand-held Braille computer at trial and can use
> >Braille documents during the course of his testimony.
> >
> >The trial is scheduled to begin April 28.
> >
> >Former HMO official pleads guilty to mail fraud
> >by Susan Finch, Staff writer, The Times-Picayune
> >Thursday May 01, 2008, 5:33 PM
> >
> >A former official of The Oath for Louisiana, a health maintenance
> >organization shut down by the state six years ago, has pleaded
> >guilty to conspiring to
> >give insurance regulators financial reports that falsely said the
> >company had enough money to pay the medical bills of its 80,000
> subscribers.
> >
> >Rodney Moyer, the HMO's executive vice president, admitted guilt
> >Friday under an agreement with prosecutors that could require him to
> >testify next week
> >against three other Oath officials named with Moyer in an April
> >indictment. They are accused of using the mails and bank wire
> >transfers over more than
> >two years to mislead state insurance officials about The Oath's
> >financial health.
> >
> >Trial began Monday before U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon for Oath
> >owner Barry Scheur, a Massachusetts health care consultant whose
> >Scheur Management Group
> >was paid $200,0000 to $350,000 a month to manage the HMO; Scheur
> >Management consultant Robert McMillan, who served as the Oath's
> >chief financial officer,
> >and Scheur Management comptroller Danette Bruno.
> >
> >Scheur came to Louisiana in mid-1999 after being hired to straighten
> >out the financially-troubled Southeast Medical Alliance health plan,
> >an HMO owned by
> >five New Orleans area hospitals. Instead, he persuaded the state
> >Department of Insurance to let him take over the health plan, taking
> >control of it in
> >January 2000.
> >
> >According to federal prosecutors, by September 2000 when The Oath
> >was struggling financially, Moyer, Scheur and McMillan feared the
> >business wouldn't be
> >able to meet its legally-required net worth of $3 million, so they
> >kept the business afloat by including artificially inflated and
> >nonexistent accounts
> >receivable in a report mailed to the state in November 2000,
> >prosecutors said.
> >
> >The government contends at a time when the HMO was not meeting the
> >$3 million net worth requirement, the defendants illegally enriched
> >themselves by continuing
> >to collect premiums from individuals and groups insured by The Oath,
> >and by having the HMO pay management fees to Scheur's firm.
> >
> >By the time The Oath was put into receivership in April 2002, the
> >HMO's liabilities exceeded its assets by about $45 million -- the
> >amount of money that
> >The Oath owed medical service providers, according to court records.
> >
> >Susan Finch can be reached at sfinch at timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3340.
> >
> >Top execs at former HMO convicted
> >04:47 PM CDT on Monday, May 12, 2008
> >
> >WWLTV.com
> >
> >The top executives at the now-defunct The Oath for Louisiana HMO
> >were convicted Monday in U.S. District Court of conspiracy, wire
> >fraud and mail fraud charges,
> >according to U.S. Attorney Jim Letten.
> >
> >According to Letten, Barry S. Scheur, the owner, president and CEO,
> >and Robert McMillan, the Chief Financial Officer, were convicted on
> >several charges
> >related to the company's operations.
> >
> >A third defendant, Danette Bruno was acquitted.
> >
> >Scheur was convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud
> >and wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud and four counts of wire
> >fraud. McMillan
> >was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire
> >fraud, one count of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud.
> >
> >The defendants face the possibility of five years in prison, a
> >$250,000 fine and three years supervised release on each charge.
> >Sentencing is scheduled
> >for August 13.
> >
> >
> >
> >Sincerely,
> >The Constantly BAREFOOTED Ray
> >Phone:
> >985-360-3375
> >e-mail:
> >rforetjratcomcastdotnet
> >Skype Name:
> >barefootedray
>
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