Former Hospital Official Convicted Of Fraud, Theft
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A former NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital official that ran a federal health program responsible for feeding 13,000 families in Upper Manhattan was convicted yesterday of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars of the organization’s funds to pay for personal luxury items, and defrauding the hospital through kickbacks and fake invoices.
The head of the hospital’s Women, Infants and Children Program from 1990 to 2005, Carol Pierce, used the program’s American Express to purchase, among other items, flights to her second home in Florida, an ice cream maker, and a Sony camcorder.
As part of the scheme, Ms. Pierce awarded a hospital contract to a cleaning company, Pro-Glow, owned and operated by her secretary, Miriam Colgan. In exchange for the contract, ProGlow cleaned Pierce’s Teaneck, New Jersey house twice a week, and inflated the costs of its hospital services by more than $300,000. In another arrangement, Pierce had her secretary submit fake invoices from a Queens market for food and services. Payments from the hospital were then funneled back to Pierce.
Pierce was convicted of conspiracy, mail fraud, and theft charges yesterday in Manhattan federal court.
The 52-year-old Pierce will be sentenced on June 12, where she faces a maximum sentence of 65 years.
