July 01--The onetime owner of the defunct Edgewater Medical Center was ordered held in custody Wednesday as he awaits separate criminal trials stemming from the hospital's collapse amid a massive fraud scheme in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly agreed with federal prosecutors that Peter Rogan posed a significant risk to flee if he was not detained. He had fled to Canada in 2006 but abruptly quit fighting extradition last month to face the charges in Chicago.
Federal prosecutors said Rogan fled to Vancouver in fall 2006 just weeks after a federal judge ordered him to pay $64 million for facilitating the fraud that led to the hospital's closing in 2002. The next year, Dexia Credit Local, the hospital's primary creditor, won a $124 million judgment against Rogan and his companies, putting Rogan on the hook for a whopping $188 million.
Rogan was not criminally charged until 2008, when he was indicted on perjury and obstruction of justice counts. Federal prosecutors alleged that Rogan had frustrated efforts of authorities trying to collect the tens of millions of dollars from him.
That same year Rogan also was charged with criminal contempt on allegations he concealed his assets, lied to the court and violated court orders to turn over documents while Dexia tried to collect its money.
After appearing before Kennelly on the contempt charge, Rogan appeared briefly before U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber on the perjury charge. Dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit and a white undershirt, Rogan was shackled at the feet as he stood placidly during the proceedings.
Rogan has pleaded not guilty in both criminal cases.
"My client returned from Canada with the intention of going to trial as soon as possible," his lawyer Thomas Breen told Leinenweber.
In arguing that Rogan should be released on his own recognizance, Breen said his client has no passport or other travel documents he could use to flee the country. Another one of Rogan's attorneys noted that Rogan returned to Chicago to fight the charges against him and clear his name.
"I can't imagine why someone would voluntarily come back here in order to flee," Breen said.
From 2001 to 2003, several doctors and employees were convicted of luring vulnerable people to Edgewater Medical Center for medical treatment they did not need and for paying kickbacks to physicians in return for those referrals. The scheme cost government programs tens of millions of dollars, according to the government.
cdrhodes@tribpub.com
