Former Chief Operating Officer of Illinois Hospital Pleads Guilty to Federal Fraud Charge

CHICAGO — The former Chief Operating Officer of an Illinois hospital pleaded guilty today to a federal fraud charge for illegally pocketing more than $620,000 in hospital funds.

ROBERT SPADONI was an attorney who worked as a Vice President and COO of the hospital.  Spadoni admitted in a plea agreement that from 2013 to 2021, he orchestrated a scheme in which he approved the hospital’s payment of invoices to a vendor company that purportedly provided administrative support and compliance services.  In reality, the vendor company – Medical Education Solutions, Inc. – had been established by Spadoni for the purpose of executing the scheme.  Spadoni opened a bank account for the company in a relative's name and steered the hospital’s payments into it.  Spadoni concealed the fraud scheme by paying $1,500 a month in cash to another hospital employee to actually provide the administrative and compliance services.

As a result of the fraud scheme, Spadoni obtained approximately $622,500 in payments from the hospital, the plea agreement states.  Spadoni admitted in the plea agreement that he used the money for his own benefit, including restaurant meals and hotel stays, as well as transferring $225,805 into his 401(k) account.

Spadoni, 59, of Darien, Ill., pleaded guilty to a mail fraud charge.  The conviction is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.  U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly set sentencing for April 30, 2024.

The guilty plea was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Robert W. “Wes” Wheeler, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Kwame Raoul, Illinois Attorney General.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Chester Choi.