COURTS Trial date of March 7 set in fraud case

One sister got a court date; the other is still too ill for trial.
YOUNGSTOWN -- A trial date of March 7 has been set for one of two Canfield sisters charged with Medicare fraud at the now-closed Youngstown Osteopathic Hospital.
Patricia Macejko, 61, of Killdeer Drive will proceed to trial on charges of conspiracy to defraud the government, Medicare fraud, false statements and money laundering. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Patricia A. Gaughan in Cleveland.
The case against Macejko's sister, Maryann Barnett, 66, of Tippecanoe Road, remains pending because of her serious illness, James C. Lynch, an assistant U.S. attorney, said.
January sentencing
Judge Gaughan agreed to remove the two Canfield sisters from the case before their co-defendants went to trail in March. In a motion to sever, Barnett's Columbus lawyer said she had been diagnosed with cancer. A trial date was to be set when her health improved.
The indictment, handed up Jan. 9, 2003, also included Richard B. White, 61, of Louisiana; Michael B. Suhadolnik, 48, of Chardon; and Raul Sanchez deVarona, 40, of Florida. They were charged with conspiracy to defraud the government, Medicare fraud, false statements and money laundering. White and Suhadolnik were also charged with wire fraud. Before trial, deVarona, an attorney, struck a plea agreement with the government.
The fraud amounted to about $2.6 million, the government said. YOH, once located on the city's North Side, closed five years ago.
The jury found White and Suhadolnik guilty. They will be sentenced Jan. 28.
Money to Florida
In January 1996, YOH hired White and entered into an agreement with White's Montrose Management to provide financial management consulting services. White set up a network of companies designed to produce profits for the defendants, not YOH, the government said.
Five clinics in Florida set up by White paid him management fees, the government said.
The defendants used Pathways Center for Geriatric Psychiatry, located inside YOH, to defraud Medicare and diverted the Medicare funds to the Florida clinics, the government said.
White incorporated Pathways and gave ownership, in name only, to Barnett and Macejko. He actually controlled all the finances, the government said.
The case was investigated by the Office of the Inspector General in Cleveland and the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation Unit in Youngstown.