Pennsylvania casino wants doctor jailed to pay off $ 69k in gaming debt
Posted on April 30, 2021, 11:57 AM
Last updated: April 30, 2021, 03:26 h.
Pennsylvania Casino says doctor convicted of illegal drug distribution, Healthcare Fraud and Money Laundering owes more than 69,000 $ in gambling debt.
Psychiatrist Nabil Jabbour, 70, pleaded guilty in October 2019 to three distributions of buprenorphine, a Schedule III controlled substance, outside of normal work practice, and one case of health fraud and money laundering. Last December, he was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison.
Jabbour pleaded guilty to using the Meadows Casino Racetrack hotel in Washington to launder the ill-gotten cash it received for illegally distributing buprenorphine. Buprenorphine is used to treat opioid addiction as well as a pain reliever. However, the drug itself carries a high risk of addiction.
The Meadows says they simply considered Jabbour a great player and offered him a $ 48,000 line of credit in March . The Meadows, operated by Penn National Gaming and owned by an investment fund of Gaming and Leisure Properties, claims in legal proceedings that Jabbour closed its personal bank account linked to the casino after opening a credit line.
The casino interest is rising
Meadows Casino claims that Jabbour had to make a minimum monthly payment of $ 1,000,000 after fixing his $ 48,000 Line of Credit. He failed to do so shortly after opening the account.
The casino says it informed Jabbour in September 2016 that he was still allowed to gamble at Meadows, but any winnings would be used to pay off his burgeoning debt.
Meadows' lawsuit says it applied a 26 percent monthly interest rate on the disgraced doctor's credit line in November 2019. The interest is $ 21,344, which means Jabbour is on the hook for $ 69,344.
In a December judgment, Jabbour was ordered to pay $ 75,000 fine and $ 40,000 0 as a refund to Medicare and the Pennsylvania Medicaid program. Jabbour only collected cash from his customers, but continued to issue Medicare and Medicaid bills for counterfeit prescriptions.
Jabbour was charging $ 100 for the initial consultation and $ 80 $ for the next visit. His illegal drug program was exposed following a secret sting conducted by the West Pennsylvania Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Division. Undercover law enforcement officers made three visits to the Jabbour office in 2016. They successfully obtained buprenorphine, even though they showed no significant symptoms that the drug is prescribed for treatment.
Casino credit lines
A casino loan is very different from a loan from a bank or credit card company. The main advantage of establishing a casino credit line is that the player does not need to bring in cash to play and the casino credit lines are usually provided without interest.
When players have large debts on their credit lines, the casino will request repayment within a certain period of time which can be anywhere from a week to 90 days. If the customer fails to do so, the casino can contact the person's bank and send a token for payment.
