Local January 19, 2021 | 7:54 am

Trump to pardon Dominican who stole US$42M from Medicare

Dr. Salomon Melgen (left) arrives at the federal courthouse in West Palm Beach with his attorney Tuesday, April 11, 2017. Melgen is facing 76 counts charging him with stealing up to $105 million from Medicare between 2008 and 2013. (Lannis Waters / The Palm Beach Post)

Santo Domingo.- Among those on the list of the 100 pardons by US President Donald Trump, is Dominican ophthalmologist based in Florida, Salomon Melgen, sentenced in 2018 to 17 years in prison for defrauding Medicare out of US$42 million.

Friend of the influential Democratic senator Robert (Bob) Menéndez (D-NJ, also accused of corruption, Melgen was arrested in April 2015 in Palm Beach County, north of Miami, and has since sought his release on bail, which he obtained after paying 18 million of dollars.

Judge Kenneth A. Marra also sentenced the renowned eye doctor to three years probation. In 2017 he stood trial and was released on US$18 million bail pending a sentence.