A federal grand jury has issued an indictment against a former CEO of Northwest Florida’s Calhoun-Liberty Hospital, charging him with 24 counts of wire fraud and four counts of filing false tax returns.
Unsealed Wednesday, the indictment alleges that Phillip E. Hill Jr. used his positions as chief executive officer and department head of emergency management services to embezzle money between 2010 and 2015 from the 25-bed facility, which serves residents in Calhoun, Liberty, Gulf, and Jackson counties, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida.
Hill, 42, is accused of billing the hospital for goods it never received.
The invoices were sent from “Southeastern Medical Supply,” a sham business connected to a bank account that Hill controlled, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
Hill allegedly used the funds in the business account to pay personal credit-card bills and other expenses.
The maximum penalty for each wire-fraud charge is 20 years in prison. The maximum penalty for each charge of filing false tax returns is three years in prison.
Hill’s trial is slated to begin July 2 in federal court in Panama City, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
