When Is Enough Enough?

By Gary Snyder

The Alabama Organ Center is a component of the Health Services Foundation and is the federally approved organ procurement organization for the state of Alabama. Its former director is going to prison for his role in a scheme to take kickbacks from a funeral home that did business with the organ center

The former director of the Alabama Organ Center was sentenced to 13 months in prison. His co-defendant pleaded guilty in November to one count each of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, health care fraud, and mail fraud. He will be sentenced in June. The co-defendant is the former associate director of the Organ Center. Both will both be responsible for paying the restitution. The restitution order was for $489,551.

In exchange for the kickback payments, both defendants promoted the funeral home and recommended its hiring by the organ center for services paid for by the Health Services Foundation. Neither disclosed to the organ center or the foundation that they were receiving payments from the funeral home. Both men falsely represented to the foundation that neither of them had any financial conflicts of interest from customers, suppliers, contractors or competitors, according to court documents.

The investigation revealed no evidence that indicated that either employee endangered the public or donors or recipients of organs or tissue. (link)

Nonprofit Imperative gathers its information principally from public documents...some of which are directly quoted. Virtually all cited are in some phase of criminal proceedings; some have not been charged, however. Cites in various media: Featured in print, broadcast, and online media outlets, including: Vermont Public Radio, Miami Herald, National Public Radio, Huffington Post, The Sun News, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Wall Street Journal (Profile, News and Photos), FOX2, ABC Spotlight on the News, WWJ Radio, Ethics World, Aspen Philanthropy Newsletter, Harvard Business Review, Current Affairs, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, St. Petersburg Times, B, USA Today Topics, , Newsweek.com, Responsive Philanthropy Magazine, New York Times...and many more • Nonprofits: On the Brink (iUniverse, 2006)