Despite his professed call for fraud of this nature to be punished by decades of prison and loss of all possessions, the "honorable" Dr. Carson begged for leniency for this POS. I thought he was just crazy - now I see he's a slimy money-grubbing hypocrite as well.
Ben Carson Profits From Ties With Convicted Felon, AP Report Finds
by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Republican presidential contender Ben Carson has maintained a business relationship with a close friend convicted of defrauding insurance companies and testified on his behalf, even as the candidate has called for such crimes to be punished harshly.
Pittsburgh dentist Alfonso A. Costa pleaded guilty to a felony count of health care fraud after an FBI probe into his oral surgery practice found he had charged for procedures he never performed, according to court records.
Though the crime carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison, Costa was able to avoid prison time after Carson helped petition a federal judge for leniency.
That's different from the position Carson took in 2013 as he prepared to launch his presidential campaign, saying those convicted of health care fraud should go to prison for at least a decade and be forced to forfeit "all of one's personal possessions."
At Costa's 2008 sentencing hearing, Carson described the dentist as "one my closest, if not my very closest friend."
"We became friends about a decade ago because we discovered that we were so much alike and shared the same values and principles that govern our lives," Carson told the judge, adding that their families vacationed together and that they were involved in "joint projects."
"Next to my wife of 32 years, there is no one on this planet that I trust more than Al Costa," Carson said.
Costa has served on the board of Carson's charity, the Carson Scholars Fund, and continues to lead the charity's fundraising efforts in the Pittsburgh area to provide $1,000 college scholarships to children in need.
Before his criminal conviction and the revocation of his license to practice dentistry, Costa built a multimillion-dollar fortune through commercial real estate. Investments Carson and his wife made through Costa earn the couple between $200,000 and $2 million a year, according to financial records that Carson was required to file when he declared his candidacy.
Costa also continues to promote his involvement with Carson's charity as part of his real estate business, prominently featuring the logo of the Carson Scholars Fund on the company's website. His son has worked with Carson's presidential campaign and a political committee founded by the retired neurosurgeon.
Doug Watts, the campaign's spokesman, said Wednesday he was unable to immediately respond to specific questions about land deals involving Carson and Costa. The AP contacted Watts on Tuesday and again Wednesday.
Alfonso A. Costa pleaded guilty to a felony count of health care fraud after an FBI probe into his oral surgery practice found he had charged for procedures he never performed, according to court records. costalandco.com
"I will confirm they are best friends and that they do hold business investments together," Watts said.
Costa did not respond to messages seeking comment.
The breadth of the two men's business ties has not been previously reported, partly because details can be obscured in property and incorporation records. Costa's company and its affiliates own properties in at least five states and overseas.
In 2007, a few months before Costa was charged, records show that a pair of corporations was established in Pennsylvania called BenCan LLC, and INBS LLC. Carson and his wife are listed as the sole members of the companies. Though the Carsons live outside Baltimore, the mailing address on the incorporation forms was Costa's home address in Pittsburgh.
BenCan and INBS then paid more than $3 million to purchase an office building in suburban Pittsburgh. The mailing address for the corporations listed on the deed matches the office of Costa's real estate firm, Costa Land Co.
That September, federal prosecutors charged Costa, accusing him of fraud committed over a nearly five-year period, according to court records. Investigators determined that Costa's dental practice charged more than 50 patients for procedures that had not been performed, resulting in a loss of more than $40,000 to insurance companies.
After Costa pleaded guilty, 40 of his family members, friends and dental patients wrote letters to the judge as character witnesses. Carson was one of three people who also testified at Costa's 2008 sentencing hearing, stressing his friend's charitable works and vouching for his personal integrity. Also testifying on Costa's behalf was Jerome Bettis, a beloved former Pittsburgh Stealers running back who had helped bring home a Super Bowl trophy to the city two years earlier.
The government urged the judge to make an example of Costa.
"Reduction of a sentence based on good works by a wealthy person can create the appearance that a defendant's financial resources and prominent connections can skew the justice system in ways not available to persons of lesser means," a prosecutor told the judge.
In the end, Costa got no prison time. He was sentenced to one year of house arrest and 100 hours of community service, and ordered to pay more than $294,000 in fines and restitution. Costa later got 12 months shaved off his three-year probation.
Though Costa was assigned to serve his sentence in his 8,300-square-foot mansion in nearby Fox Chapel, his lawyers repeatedly returned to court to seek permission for him to travel. A few months after starting his sentence, Costa asked to travel to the White House as one of 10 invited guests at a June 2008 ceremony where President George W. Bush presented Carson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The judge denied that request, though Costa was later allowed to take a month-long trip to the Italian coast while on probation to handle what his lawyer described as urgent business at a resort he owns.
Carson's appeal for leniency toward Costa contradicts the draconian criminal penalties he called for in his 2013 political treatise, "America the Beautiful." In his book, Carson wrote that anyone found guilty of health care fraud should face what he called the "Saudi Arabian Solution."
"Why don't people steal very often in Saudi Arabia?" Carson asked. "Obviously because the punishment is the amputation of one or more fingers. I would not advocate chopping off people's limbs, but there would be some very stiff penalties for this kind of fraud, such as loss of one's medical license for life, no less than 10 years in prison, and loss of all of one's personal possessions."
Despite the tough-on-crime message, Carson and his wife kept their investment with Costa in the years since his conviction. Tax bills for the Pittsburgh office building owned by the couple are mailed to Costa Land Co. A recent lease for a portion of the property was signed on the Carsons' behalf by the president of Costa's company.
[Edited on 11/12/2015 by rmack]
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/11/ben-carson-running-for-president.html#
Is Ben Carson Running for President?
By Jonathan Chait
On February 7, 2013, Ben Carson appeared at a National Prayer Breakfast, where he visibly annoyed President Obama by delivering a right-wing speech denouncing Obamacare and cultural liberalism, and calling for a flat tax based on the biblical tithe. Conservatives, still devastated by Obama’s reelection, took delight in the appearance on the scene of a surprising new presidential antagonist, who until that point had no political profile. “Finally, a self-reliant conservative decided to make this every bit as political as Obama does,” tweeted conservative pundit David Limbaugh. The Wall Street Journal celebrated Carson’s remarks in a short editorial, headlined “Ben Carson for President.” The headline was obviously hyperbolic; nothing in the text that followed proposed that Carson run for public office.
But now Carson actually is running for president. Or is he? It is hard to tell. Conservative politics are so closely intermingled with a lucrative entertainment complex that it is frequently impossible to distinguish between a political project (that is, something designed to result in policy change) and a money-making venture. Declaring yourself a presidential candidate gives you access to millions of dollars' worth of free media attention that can build a valuable brand. So the mere fact that Carson calls himself a presidential candidate does not prove he is actually running for president rather than taking advantage of the opportunity to build his brand. Indeed, it is possible to be actually leading the polls without seriously trying to win the presidency.
And the notion that Carson could be president is preposterous. The problem is not only that he has never run for elected office. He has never managed a large organization; he has not worked in and around public policy, and he lacks a competent grasp of issues. His stance on health care, the closest thing to an issue with which his professional experience has brought him into contact, is gibberish. He mostly thrills audiences by scoffing at evolution and insisting Muslims be barred from the presidency, stances he cannot even defend coherently.
It is possible that Carson has come to genuinely believe that he is qualified to serve as president. (As a follower of the conspiracy theorist W. Cleon Skousen, Carson seems to subscribe in earnest to a series of completely fantastical beliefs.) It is also possible that Carson is being manipulated by staffers who stand to profit off their association with him. But the most likely explanation for his behavior is that Carson himself is in this thing to make a lot of money.
Carson is doing a lot of things that seem puzzling for a presidential campaign, but quite logical for a brand-building exercise. He is taking weeks off the campaign trail to go on a book tour. His campaign itself is structured much more like a scamming venture than a political one. An astronomical 69 percent of his fund-raising totals are spent on more fund-raising. (Bernie Sanders, by contrast, spends just 4 percent of his intake on fund-raising.) In addition to direct mail, Carson seems to have undertaken a massive phone-spamming operation. Spending most of your money to raise more money is not a good way to get elected president, but it is a good way to build a massive list of supporters that can later be monetized. Perhaps it is a giveaway that the official title for Armstrong Williams, the figure running the Carson “campaign,” is “business manager,” as opposed to “campaign manager.” It does suggests that Carson is engaged in a for-profit venture.
Carson’s combination of flamboyantly reactionary statements and subdued (to the point of appearing medicated) persona lend him an aura of trust and honesty. Carson’s supporters see him as a brave truth-teller; his critics think he’s genuinely nuts. Even those concerned with his methods grant him the presumption of innocence — right-wing commentator Erick Erickson, running down Carson’s astronomical fund-raising costs, frets, “I suspect there are some who see Carson as a cash cow.” But it is a fallacy to imagine that a kook cannot also be a scammer. There is a long tradition of cult leaders, televangelists, and other snake-oil salesmen who were both.
Carson’s relationship with Mannatech, a medical-supplement operator that uses misleading claims to exploit Christian customers, may provide the most revealing window into his methodology. Consider the utterly calm and putatively genuine way in which Carson flatly denied a question at the last debate about his business relationship with Mannatech:
If you have the facts in mind — Carson maintained an extensive relationship with the company — when you watch this answer, his unflinching dishonesty has a chilling quality. He is a perfect con artist. And his history with Mannatech seems to serve as a precursor to his current enterprise. Carson used his inspiring story to pitch credulous (overwhelmingly Christian) customers. Carson has simply moved on to a bigger stage and cut out the middleman. The old scam was using the Ben Carson brand to pitch Mannatech. The new scam is pitching Ben Carson.
Charging for procedures he never performed could have happened if he had someone doing his billing without his direct oversight. He trusted them to bill and bring money into the business, but he had responsibility to go over the stuff before it went out to be paid. A business owner is responsible for the finances of his business, but usually those things are delegated off to someone to submit the bills. The Doctor does a procedure, someone else bills it, billing for what is usually included. If the Dr. is a crook, he can tell the billing people to bill each case for as much as possible, regardless of if he did some of the things being billed for.
Obviously the people were patients, what is unknown is what services he rendered to them versus what was billed and did He have direct knowledge of what was billed or did he trust one of his staff or an outside company to bill for him? It is not clear what Dr. Costa knew, only that the conviction found his office billed for procedures not performed. Carson's association with Dr. Costa is based on how he knows him to be as a person.
[Edited on 11/12/2015 by gina]
Charging for procedures he never performed could have happened if he had someone doing his billing without his direct oversight. He trusted them to bill and bring money into the business, but he had responsibility to go over the stuff before it went out to be paid. A business owner is responsible for the finances of his business, but usually those things are delegated off to someone to submit the bills. The Doctor does a procedure, someone else bills it, billing for what is usually included. If the Dr. is a crook, he can tell the billing people to bill each case for as much as possible, regardless of if he did some of the things being billed for.
Obviously the people were patients, what is unknown is what services he rendered to them versus what was billed and did He have direct knowledge of what was billed or did he trust one of his staff or an outside company to bill for him? It is not clear what Dr. Costa knew, only that the conviction found his office billed for procedures not performed. Carson's association with Dr. Costa is based on how he knows him to be as a person.
[Edited on 11/12/2015 by gina]
Costa makes Carson a sh!tload of money. Evidently you missed the part where Costa pled guilty, and Carson lauded their shared principles and values and helped get Costa no jail time in spite of his published call for harsh penalties for fraudsters who don't make Carson and his wife between 200k and 2 million a year. Complete slime.
[Edited on 11/12/2015 by rmack]
[Edited on 11/12/2015 by rmack]
[Edited on 11/12/2015 by rmack]
None of the "revelations" about anyone mean anything anymore. They just don't. It's all just sports banter now. People are going to vote for whoever they are going to vote for, and the primaries haven't even happened yet.
Then the General Election comes, and let's say it's, oh, Trump-Clinton. The Carson folks that said they wouldn't vote for Trump will vote for Trump, and the Sanders supporters that said they wouldn't vote for Clinton will vote for Clinton.
The process is just so absurdly long.
Ben Carson made millions with BFF and business partner, a felon convicted of healthcare fraud
By Joan McCarter
Thursday Nov 12, 2015 11:34 AM EST
That Ben Carson gets awfully creative with the truth is by now well established. Here's one if his more interesting ones, that Medicare and Medicaid fraud is "huge—half a trillion dollars." Which is pretty much impossible, since total spending for the two programs is less than a trillion—$980 billion last year, to be exact. But here's a new wrinkle on that specific claim: Carson has some very personal experience with Medicare fraud: his best friend and business partner has been convicted of it.
The friend in question, indeed Carson's best friend and business partner, is a Philadelphia-area oral surgeon, Alfonso Costa.
Carson and Costa have long been tight. They vacation together, and Carson holidays at an Italian resort villa owned by Costa's company. Costa is president of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Ben Carson Scholars Fund, which awards $1,000 college scholarships to students who demonstrate good character and strong academics. And Costa's real estate development firm helps to oversee a lucrative investment for Carson and his wife, one that last year netted the Carsons between $200,000 and $2 million, according to the GOP candidate's financial disclosure forms.
As much as a quarter of Carson's $8 million-plus personal wealth is tied up in various real estate ventures with Costa, Mother Jones reports. He and Costa began business together in about 2007, at the same time Costa got into trouble with the feds. His investments were becoming so lucrative that he had stepped back from his dental practice, selling it to another oral surgeon, Roberto Michienzi, but—importantly—"he continued to work at this office until 2001 for a $10,000 monthly fee." From 1996 to 2001, the federal government charged, Costa and his partner defrauded insurance companies out of $44,000, over-billing them for services not provided.
According to Costa, he was only responsible for $180 in over-billing, a story Carson repeated in his 2013 book America the Beautiful. (In the same book, Carson suggested "some very stiff penalties for this kind of fraud, such as loss of one's medical license for life, no less than ten years in prison, and loss of all of one's personal possessions." Yet Carson wrote to the judge in his friend's case, pleading for leniency.) The judge did not buy Costa's assertion. "Costa received a tougher sentence: three years probation, one year of house arrest, 100 hours of community service, and he was ordered to pay restitution of $44,000 and a $250,000 fine." Carson maintains to this day that his friend was not guilty of fraud, despite the fact that Costa admitted it. In his book, Carson says that Costa was unfairly targeted by petty, jealous federal agents.
My friend owns a spectacular home, a Manhattan penthouse, two Ferraris, and a European villa. However, given the fortune he has amassed, he lives modestly compared to the lifestyle he could have if he so desired. I believe the lead agent was either jealous of his success or incorrectly concluded that he had organized crime connections that produced his wealth.
There's Carson's imagination running wild again—organized crime had nothing to do with the investigation. But it sure sounds a lot more dramatic and sinister than plain old healthcare fraud—that huge problem that is going to bankrupt the nation and should be punished by mandatory prison sentences and the loss of all personal possessions, says Carson. But that apparently only applies to people who aren't his BFF and business partner. Carson spent his 64th birthday this fall hanging out Costa's European villa, on the Amalfi coast.
A "spectacular" home, Manhattan penthouse, European villa and two Ferraris is Carson's idea of a "modest" lifestyle? Not too out of touch - he'll definitely be a champion of middle - class Americans.
carson should be toast at this point but the clownservatives think they have a "safe" black man to show they are not racist.
I bet carson won't make it to the convention.
I'm guessing the old guard Republican Party powers are the folks digging up this information. There is no way they will nominate Carson or Trump. It ain't their turn.
carson should be toast at this point but the clownservatives think they have a "safe" black man to show they are not racist.
I bet carson won't make it to the convention.
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Trump and Carson are virtually tied and way ahead of any others.
Dr. Carson is beating Hillary and Sanders in national polls.
Dr. Carson is still the most trustworthy and honest candidate and Hillary is still the least trustworthy and dishonest.
While the liberal's lapdogs in the media continue to attack the people know better.
Mule I admire your capacity to make up and believe your own reality. It is an amazing coping mechanism. Good on ya Man! Whatever gets you through the night!
Mule I admire your capacity to make up and believe your own reality. It is an amazing coping mechanism. Good on ya Man! Whatever gets you through the night!
_________________________________________________________________________
My facts come from national polls widely available.
It is called research, something you have been proven incapable of doing.
Mule I admire your capacity to make up and believe your own reality. It is an amazing coping mechanism. Good on ya Man! Whatever gets you through the night!
_________________________________________________________________________
My facts come from national polls widely available.
It is called research, something you have been proven incapable of doing.
You get your nonsense from Limbaugh and other right wing sources. You simply come here to stir the water, not to engage in argument.
Mule I admire your capacity to make up and believe your own reality. It is an amazing coping mechanism. Good on ya Man! Whatever gets you through the night!
_________________________________________________________________________
My facts come from national polls widely available.
It is called research, something you have been proven incapable of doing.
You get your nonsense from Limbaugh and other right wing sources. You simply come here to stir the water, not to engage in argument.
_____________________________________________________________________
Quinnipiac amongst other national independent polls.
I have never listened to a Limbaugh show son.
“Right wing sources”. – name one.
Aw, the little liberal kids don't like my posts.
Shocking!
Mule? Are you saying Carson did not and is not profiting from his relationship with Costa?
And since when did you become ok with insurance fraud? Why would anyone commend, defend, or support insurance fraud?
Real Clear Politics has done a fine job for years now aggregating the polls in one easily referenced place.
Certain polls have small biases and polls be fickle. Up, down, all around. The full election machine isn't up and running quite yet, the amount of polls will increase dramatically after the first of the year.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/elections/#
I have to get a kick out of the daily character assignation of Ben Carson on such flimsy BS. So he ask for leniency for a friend and somehow you want us to believe he is involved in it and benefits from it. From the same people who will now support Hillary Clinton, a complete phony, liar, and corrupt politician ,not to mention supporting Barack Obama, right there was no injustice or criminal behavior at the IRS right , nice job Obama's "justice department"
The truth is Ben Carson has so much more integrity than anyone in the Democrat party. But you can't argue on ideas policy or facts. You need to tear down whoever goes against your old tired and failed ideas like socialism will save capitalism , sure anything you say
I have to get a kick out of the daily character assignation of Ben Carson on such flimsy BS. So he ask for leniency for a friend and somehow you want us to believe he is involved in it and benefits from it. From the same people who will now support Hillary Clinton, a complete phony, liar, and corrupt politician ,not to mention supporting Barack Obama, right there was no injustice or criminal behavior at the IRS right , nice job Obama's "justice department"
The truth is Ben Carson has so much more integrity than anyone in the Democrat party. But you can't argue on ideas policy or facts. You need to tear down whoever goes against your old tired and failed ideas like socialism will save capitalism , sure anything you say
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Exactly right.
The Costa thing is thin at best. If it were true Obama's Justice Department would have been all over it.
The left is desperate and it shows in their attacks on Dr. Carson. A good lesson on how to take small-ball and false allegations and manufacture political attacks.
Interesting that the left seems to have no interest in Hillary Clinton's corruption and criminal activities.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahah! You dolts are hilarious!
The liberal U.S. mainstream media is not reporting it. Press around the world is:
FBI agents are 'busting a**' to build case against Hillary as classified email investigation expands to include cover-up crimes – including the same law that sent Martha Stewart to prison
Hillary signed State Department contract saying it was HER job to know if documents were classified top secret, and laid out criminal penalties for 'negligent handling'
[Edited on 11/14/2015 by Muleman1994]
carson is still a liar and won't make it to the convention.
He's herman cain all over again, only cain wasn't a serial liar.
Charging for procedures he never performed could have happened if he had someone doing his billing without his direct oversight. He trusted them to bill and bring money into the business, but he had responsibility to go over the stuff before it went out to be paid. A business owner is responsible for the finances of his business, but usually those things are delegated off to someone to submit the bills. The Doctor does a procedure, someone else bills it, billing for what is usually included. If the Dr. is a crook, he can tell the billing people to bill each case for as much as possible, regardless of if he did some of the things being billed for.
Obviously the people were patients, what is unknown is what services he rendered to them versus what was billed and did He have direct knowledge of what was billed or did he trust one of his staff or an outside company to bill for him? It is not clear what Dr. Costa knew, only that the conviction found his office billed for procedures not performed. Carson's association with Dr. Costa is based on how he knows him to be as a person.
[Edited on 11/12/2015 by gina]
Costa makes Carson a sh!tload of money. Evidently you missed the part where Costa pled guilty, and Carson lauded their shared principles and values and helped get Costa no jail time in spite of his published call for harsh penalties for fraudsters who don't make Carson and his wife between 200k and 2 million a year. Complete slime.
Sometimes people plead guilty because there is some tacit deal made that everyone else does not know about, ie. there will be a large donation to the Judge's re-election campaign so with the leverage most Judges have they can give a lesser sentence or later on after the sentence other deals get worked out. In this case though, I think all of you are correct, Carson cannot be trusted because he is entrenched with at least one person who has dealings that seem shady.
Here in NY metro area I have now come to realize that rich means people who make or have more than ten million dollars, less than that they are up and coming.
carson is still a liar and won't make it to the convention.
He's herman cain all over again, only cain wasn't a serial liar.
Yesterday he acknowledged Trump's remark that made an analogy between someone who is pathological and someone who is a child molester. Trump did NOT say that Carson was a child molester, he just said 'someone who is pathological, they cannot change anymore than someone who is a child molester, there is only one thing to do with a child molester, but we won't talk about that'. Then Carson says in response 'maybe Trump's staff will explain to him the meaning of pathological'. WTF, Carson is admitting he is pathological?
Carson has no chance of winning an election because he has no foreign policy experience and foreign policy is the biggest issue next to the economic problems we have as a nation. Trump may not have foreign policy experience, but he has the smarts to surround himself with people who do know the things he needs to know when taking on any task, he is decisive, he takes charge, makes decisions and gets things done, those are leadership qualities and that's what America needs in a President, leadership abilities.
Where is Sarah Palin? Shouldn't she be talking about Ben Carson paling around with felons?
Where is Al Gore?
He was out there pushing the Global Warming hoax and trying to setup a carbon credits market to make himself millions.
He seems to have faded into obscurity.
That was certainly on topic.......not....... LMAO....... 
That was certainly on topic.......not....... LMAO.......
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Ask 2112 above.
Try to follow along son.
That was certainly on topic.......not....... LMAO.......
_________________________________________________________________________
Ask 2112 above.
Try to follow along son.
Don't call me son. 2112 had a point, which must have gone over your head.... you didn't.....
That was certainly on topic.......not....... LMAO.......
_________________________________________________________________________
Ask 2112 above.
Try to follow along son.Don't call me son. 2112 had a point, which must have gone over your head.... you didn't.....
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You consistently demonstrate your inability to understand son.
Where is Al Gore?
He was out there pushing the Global Warming hoax and trying to setup a carbon credits market to make himself millions.
He seems to have faded into obscurity.
He was just hosting a climate change accord from Paris. Not obscure at all. You? You're obscure. You can't shine Al Gore's shoes. You have accomplished nothing compared to Al Gore son. You are not even a snail that he will eat at his elaborate dinner tonight.
So funny. You taking shots at someone who is internationally known and accomplished. How ridiculous.
[Edited on 11/18/2015 by BillyBlastoff]
