AP Exclusive: Carson profits from ties with convicted felon

[Newsjock]

Source: Associated Press

Republican presidential contender Ben Carson has maintained a business relationship with a close friend convicted of defrauding insurance companies and testified on his behalf, even as the candidate has called for such crimes to be punished harshly.

Pittsburgh dentist Alfonso A. Costa pleaded guilty to a felony count of health care fraud after an FBI probe into his oral surgery practice found he had charged for procedures he never performed, according to court records.

Though the crime carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison, Costa was able to avoid prison time after Carson helped petition a federal judge for leniency.

That's different from the position Carson took in 2013 as he prepared to launch his presidential campaign, saying those convicted of health care fraud should go to prison for at least a decade and be forced to forfeit "all of one's personal possessions."

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/7dbf61be9ac94bbe959e94addb6f7def/ap-exclusive-carson-profits-friendship-felon

[Grassy Knoll]

1. I Can Hear It Now

The AP is a drive by librul media hack.

[NewJeffCT]

2. Yep

and, his followers are so conditioned to hear those words that they'll accept it without even thinking about it

[valerief]

5. Clearly, they don't think to begin with. nt

[Babel_17]

3. Convicted felon, but otherwise a good Republican (nt)

[riversedge]

4. I believe in second chances-but this creep ripped off over a 5 year span. And no jail time.

Nothing fair about that.



................The breadth of the two men's business ties has not been previously reported, partly because details can be obscured in property and incorporation records. Costa's company and its affiliates own properties in at least five states and overseas.

In 2007, a few months before Costa was charged, records show that a pair of corporations was established in Pennsylvania called BenCan LLC, and INBS LLC. Carson and his wife are listed as the sole members of the companies. Though the Carsons live outside Baltimore, the mailing address on the incorporation forms was Costa's home address in Pittsburgh.

BenCan and INBS then paid more than $3 million to purchase an office building in suburban Pittsburgh. The mailing address for the corporations listed on the deed matches the office of Costa's real estate firm, Costa Land Co.

That September, federal prosecutors charged Costa, accusing him of fraud committed over a nearly five-year period, according to court records. Investigators determined that Costa's dental practice charged more than 50 patients for procedures that had not been performed, resulting in a loss of more than $40,000 to insurance companies.

[Babel_17]

11. As do I

It's the hypocrisy implied by comparing Carson's actions, to his rhetoric. Maybe he's a softie when it comes to people he knows, OK, but then let's explore that issue. He should be asked about this disparity between what he proposes, and how he's acted.

[dixiegrrrrl]

15. I would be interested in looking at CARSON's medical billing practices.

He has already proved he been dishonest about events his own life, and now we find he has friends who commit fraud....

[meow2u3]

9. You just about HAVE to be a felon to be a good Republican

Otherwise, you'd have to be either independent or a Democrat.

[Babel_17]

12. "larceny in your heart"

That comes to mind.

[M.G.]

6. Less of a campaign than a money making scheme

Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo has hypothesized, correctly in my view, that the Carson campaign is very largely a money-making scheme via direct mail fundraising disguised as politics. Because the GOP is such a freakshow, the scam has somehow turned into a frontrunning campaign.

It certainly seems like Carson associates with and profits from connections with a lot of sleazy scam artists - Mannatech, now this guy.

[Sunlei]

7. Why does the Republican Party & their Republican candidates remain silent about this?

Surely Republican Leadership and republican-fox who has paid Dr. Carson millions knew about this.?

Wonder how it feels to be a "little republican" and know you're being scammed for just that one vote.

[tzar paul]

8. Well, it's not like Costa STABBED anybody!

and, for those who actually (!) need it,

[packman]

10. Posted about one hr. ago - with picture

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027336467

[NonMetro]

13. OMG! Wealthy People Can "Skew The Justice System" And Get Off With Light Sentences?

I'm shocked! Shocked, I say!

Oh, it was probably a lot more that $40,000, too. That's probably just the amount the prosecutor could prove. If somebody walked into a bank and stole that kind of money, he'd probably be looking at 40 years!

[tomm2thumbs]

14. Someone with deep pockets at the GOP apparently doesn't want Carson -- lots of opposition research

If it was from the Democratic side, this would be saved for later -- should Carson even make it past the primary. Seems like someone with lots of influence is getting pretty upset about Carson being so high in the GOP rankings. I can't imagine who that might be.

[lark]

16. Carson takes first prize!

He's the winner for the most delusional clown in the R Klown Kar. He's really a double threat, having taken first in the "Most Lies" department as well. R's really have a winner with him and the rest that aren't much different from a crazy and policy POV.

[red dog 1]

17. Prosecutors urged the judge to make an example of Costa, arguing that

reducing his sentence would "create the appearance that a defendant's financial resources and prominent connections can skew the justice system in ways not available to persons of lessor means."

So this friend of Carson's gets zero prison time, despite the fact that he admitted that he did, indeed, commit fraud.

Meanwhile, former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman sits in federal prison for a crime he didn't commit; and he will continue to sit there until late 2017, unless he gets a Presidential pardon, (which is unlikely, since Obama's Justice Department asked the judge to INCREASE his prison sentence).

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016136630

[restorefreedom]

18. not to slam dentists,

but psycho lion murderer walter palmer was a dentist too.

something in the profession that makes them think they are above the law?