Fugitive kingpin in major SC, national Medicare scheme still missing. Judge voids plea deal

The kingpin in a major nationwide $795 million Medicare fraud scheme continued on Thursday to dodge a scheduled court sentencing hearing in South Carolina, and a federal judge canceled his plea agreement with the government.

The plea agreement for Herb Kimble, executed in April 2019 when the government was just starting to investigate his criminal network, might have allowed Kimble to get off without a prison sentence because of his help in unraveling the scheme.

But Thursday, in a hearing at the U.S. federal courthouse in Columbia, after Kimble failed to appear for the third time at a sentencing hearing, U.S. Judge Joe Anderson voided that deal.

"He now faces the maximum sentence provided by law," Anderson said.

That sentence, for conspiracy to commit health care fraud and other charges, is five years.

Kimble is believed to be in the Philippines, his lawyer, Jim Griffin, told Anderson.

"We fully expected him to come today," Griffin said.

But on Sunday, Griffin said, he received an email from Kimble saying he was unable to get on a flight from the Philippines to the U.S.

"I have been unable to get in touch with him since then," Griffin said. "I have even offered to go to the Philippines."

Griffin also revealed that although Kimble's 2019 plea deal with the government required him to pay a $40 million fine, Kimble has to date turned over only $12.75 million.

In a brief discussion of the U.S.'s extradition treaty with the Philippines, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Bower said she believed the treaty has "a lot of loopholes that give a defendant a lot of outs. We are going to explore all options."

Noting that the outstanding bench warrant for Kimble's arrest only applies if he comes to the U.S., the judge asked Bower about putting a "Red Notice" on Kimble — a request to law enforcement worldwide to take him into custody should he travel out of the Philippines to other countries.

Bower indicated a "Red Notice" was something being explored by the government, but told the judge she did not want to discuss details in a public courtroom.

Last August, Anderson — concerned about Kimble's repeated failures to come back from the Philippines and appear in an American court — ordered his immediate arrest.

At that time, Griffin told Anderson that he was in communication with Kimble and that the defendant would be coming to court in Columbia in the next few weeks.

Bower then asked Anderson to immediately issue a bench warrant, and Anderson did.

Kimble, an American citizen, owned call centers in the Philippines that became vital cogs in his international fraud scheme.

When Kimble pleaded guilty in 2019 to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, violating the anti-kickback statute and defrauding the government, he agreed to help the government and pay some $40 million as a fine. With his aid, federal law agents began arresting dozens of people throughout the United States who were involved in the fraud. Prosecutors described Kimble as the "mastermind" of the far-flung plot.

The scheme was based in South Carolina, Florida, California, New Jersey, Texas and Pennsylvania, officials said.

Judge Anderson was not pleased by Kimble's no-show on Thursday.

"I look out and once again, I see an empty chair where the defendant is supposed to be," Anderson said to begin the hearing.