A federal judge ruled that a physician at Chicago's Sacred Heart Hospital was not involved in a massive kickback scheme engineered by the hospital's executives to increase patient referrals, according to the Chicago Tribune.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly acquitted Rajiv Kandala. M.D., of charges that he accepted $36,000 in kickbacks from Sacred Heart executives between July 2012 through March 2013. Eight defendants have already been convicted for their role in the massive kickback scheme, including two high-level executives and the former owner of the hospital. However, the judge ruled that prosecutors did not meet their burden of proof that Kandala knew the payments were kickbacks, especially given the fact that he continued to receive payments even after he stopped referring patients. Article