 |
|
||||||||||||
| |
Manakee sale now off By
JOHN HULTGREN ELIZABETHTOWN — The sale of Manakee Medical Transfer Service is now off. James Manakee, the ambulance service owner, notified the Kentucky EMS Connection that "The ambulance service will be off the market until March" in an e-mail received late this morning. Last night, WHAS-TV in Louisville ran a news story about the ambulance service being up for sale. Another story was published this morning in the Elizabethtown News Enterprise. Both stories noted that the operators of Manakee Medical Transfer Service were under indictment for Medicare fraud and face possible forfeiture of the business to settle debts and fines. The Kentucky EMS Connection first published a story that the ambulance service was up for sale on Dec. 21. That article caught the attention of WHAS-TV and the News Enterprise. Yesterday, Brian Walker of the News Enterprise contacted the U.S. Attorney's office, which was unaware that the ambulance service was up for sale. "This brings up some serious legal questions, considering the nature and severity of the charges," Assistant U.S. Attorney Hancy Jones III said. Manakee, 71, of Sonora, and associates Conna Bradley, 47, and Roger J. Hawke, 67, both of Upton, were indicted by a grand jury in Louisville's U.S. District Court in July. The 29 counts charge the three operators of the ambulance service with health care fraud, conspiracy to commit health care fraud and mail fraud. Federal prosecutors said the case is limited to the transportation company and is not connected to the family funeral business. If convicted on all counts, Manakee and Hawke could get 260 years in prison and $7 million in fines each. If Bradley is convicted on all counts, the penalty could be 255 years in prison and $6.75 million in fines. Trial is scheduled for Feb. 11 in Louisville's U.S. District Court.
|
![[Kentucky EMS Connection]](../../images/logo2.gif){kind=logo}
![[Kentucky EMS Connection]](../../images/KEC_log3.gif){kind=small}