Dr. Moses deGraft-Johnson, a cardiovascular surgeon who sought out patients in poor communities to swindle and defraud for his own personal gain, has pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges.
DeGraft-Johnson, 46, who immigrated to America from Ghana when he was a child, is credited for saving the life of rapper 50 Cent who came to his Queen’s trauma ward in 2000 with multiple gunshot wounds.
The owner of the now-closed Heart and Vascular Institute of North Florida, deGraft-Johnson was indicted on Feb. 4 on numerous counts of health care fraud. He was accused of billing Capital Health Plan, Medicare, and others for procedures he never performed at the clinic, and being paid at least $29 million, which he used to fund his lavish lifestyle.
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On Friday, deGraft-Johnson pleaded guilty to 56 counts of health-care fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, and aggravated identity theft, according to Tallahassee Democrat.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office reported that deGraft-Johnson used churches, nursing homes, and at least one hospital to find vulnerable victims, and many were subjected to invasive and unnecessary procedures. His dishonest practices left many patients unsure about the actual truth of their health status.
“It is critically important that we do everything within the scope of our authority to help the patients preyed upon by this criminal doctor, in order to seek recovery of the $29-million-plus that he fraudulently received and to prevent similar schemes from happening in the future,” U.S. Attorney Larry Keefe said in a written release.
After seeing his name repeatedly associated with the disgraced doctor’s, 50 Cent took to Twitter to share his reaction.
“Got Damn, Doc! WTF. you got my name is this bulls**t for scammer. The f**k wrong with you. Lol,” 50 Cent wrote.
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deGraft-Johnson and 50 have a history beyond the surgery. Urban Islandz reported that the doctor once sued 50 over an unpaid hospital bill of $32K after the rapper rose to fame.
deGraft-Johnson faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison on each of the fraud and conspiracy counts and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines. He will be sentenced April 8, 2021 at the U.S. Courthouse in Tallahassee.
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