Ronald Ori Davidovic ‘took part in a scheme in which a network of durable medical equipment companies submitted millions of dollars’ worth of false bills to Medicare’
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A Canadian-born lawyer, who was convicted of defrauding the U.S. government of over US$3 million and sent to prison for almost four years, has lost his licence to practice in Ontario.
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From 2014 until 2019, Ronald Ori Davidovic “took part in a scheme in which a network of durable medical equipment companies submitted millions of dollars’ worth of false bills to Medicare, a U.S. federal insurance program, for equipment patients didn’t need,” according to a decision from a Law Society of Ontario Tribunal.
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The companies “relied on marketing firms to obtain signed doctors’ orders and recruit Medicare patients using overseas call centers. Kickbacks were given to individuals at those firms, one of which was owned by Mr. Davidovic. He and his co-conspirators attempted to conceal the illegal kickbacks through sham contracts and invoices that made it appear as though the money was for legitimate marketing services,” says the decision revoking his licence.
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Davidovic reached a deal with the U.S. government in July 2022, pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit health-care fraud.
“As part of the deal, he admitted he had received $160,609 USD (U.S. dollars) from the health care fraud and wire fraud conspiracy. He agreed to forfeit that amount to the U.S. government and did so prior to sentencing,” says the tribunal’s decision, dated Dec. 6.
In January 2023, a judge sentenced him to “70 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release,” said the decision. “The judge also ordered him to make restitution of $3,977,709 USD jointly and severally with his co-conspirators. Mr. Davidovic did not appeal.”
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His sentence was reduced to 46 months in February 2023 because Davidovic “had helped in the investigation or prosecution of another person,” it said, noting Davidovic was serving his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Coleman, Fla.
His initial 70-month sentence “reflects the seriousness of his conduct,” said the decision. “His crime shows him to be dishonest, untrustworthy, and unfit to be a lawyer. His actions bring discredit to the legal profession in Ontario.”
Davidovic changed his status with the Law Society of Ontario on Jan. 17, 2023, from sole practitioner to retired or not working. “Nine days later, he wrote to the Law Society advising that he had recently pleaded guilty to, and received a prison sentence for, conspiracy to commit health care fraud in Florida.”
His licence was suspended in April 2023 for failing to make continual professional development filings and pay annual fees, said the decision. “It has been suspended since.”
Davidovic was ordered to pay $1,000 of the $13,188 the Ontario Law Society spent on his case. That’s “on the lower end of the scale but is reasonable in the circumstances,” said the decision. “Mr. Davidovic self-reported the criminal charges, co‑operated with the LSO throughout, and did not oppose revocation. Further, he paid restitution of the amount he benefitted in the fraud and is incarcerated and unable to generate income.”
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This isn’t the first time Davidovic has been imprisoned in the U.S. for his actions.
In 2017, the tribunal of the Law Society of Upper Canada — which changed its name the following year to the Law Society of Ontario — ruled he was of “good character,” allowing his licensing application to proceed after he served time in Florida for downloading child pornography on his computer.
He was called to the Florida bar in 1996 and practiced there for eight years, working as general counsel of a telecom company.
“He pleaded guilty in November 2004 to one count of receiving material containing the visual depiction of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct,” said the tribunal’s decision from March 17, 2017. “He spent over two years in federal prison and was registered as a sex offender in Florida.”
Instead of reapplying to the Florida bar after five years, Davidovic — who was born in Montreal, but moved to Miami as a child when his father got work in Florida — applied to practice law in Ontario.
“It has been over 13 years since the commission of the offences, and nine years since the applicant completed his sentence,” said the tribunal’s 2017 decision that found Davidovic was “of good character” and granted his application for licensing as a lawyer in Ontario.
“He has tried to reinvent himself, with a significant measure of success thus far, to make a new life.”
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