CBS News
Texas doctor convicted after accepting more than $200,000 in kickbacks for patients’ blood, urine samples
A Texas internal medicine doctor was convicted of accepting more than $200,000 in kickbacks for sending patient samples to particular labs, according to officials from the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.
Dr. Hector Ubaldo, 60, was indicted in September. After a two-day trial, it took a federal grand jury only 14 minutes to find him guilty of conspiracy to pay and receive healthcare kickbacks and solicitation and receipt of illegal kickbacks.
Based on the evidence presented at trial, Ubaldo accepted cash from so-called “marketers” in return for sending patients’ blood and urine samples to particular labs, which then billed insurance companies and Medicare for running diagnostic tests, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Ubaldo also entered into “sham medical advisory agreements with the labs and marketers” where he was supposed to provide advisory services in exchange for a monthly fee. However, the labs and marketers did not need these services, and Ubaldo did not provide them.
“Instead, the medical advisory service agreements served as a fraudulent vehicle to funnel kickback payments to Dr. Ubaldo in exchange for his sending samples to specific labs,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
On various occasions, one of the marketers met with Ubaldo at his office and handed over thousands of dollars in cash. Video evidence of the meetings was introduced in court.
“To tell you the truth, I need the cash,” Dr. Ubaldo told the marketer at one of the meetings.
Ubaldo accepted more than $253,000 in bribes, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He now faces up to 15 years in federal prison and was taken into custody as he awaits sentencing.
The House Ethics Committee, which has been conducting an investigation into sexual misconduct and obstruction allegations against Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, scheduled a vote for Friday on whether to release its report, according to three sources with knowledge of the committee’s work.
Hours after President-elect Donald Trump said he planned to nominate Gaetz to be attorney general, Gaetz resigned his congressional seat, effective immediately.
“I do not intend to take the oath of office for the same office in the 119th Congress, to pursue the position of Attorney General in the Trump Administration,” Gaetz said in his resignation letter obtained by CBS News
House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that there was about an eight-week period during which Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis could fill his seat by setting the date for a special election.
Now that Gaetz has resigned, it is unclear whether the panel will vote on releasing the report, since Gaetz is no longer in Congress.
There is precedent in Congress on the Senate side for an ethics committee report to become public after a member resigns from Congress, however. In 2011, this happened when Sen. John Ensign of Nevada resigned amid allegations that he tried to hide an extramarital affair.
But it’s not clear that that would apply to the House, leaving open the possibility that the report on Gaetz would not be released.
In June, the House Ethics Committee released a statement saying it was investigating a range of allegations against Gaetz, including sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, and bribery.
Multiple sources at the time told CBS News that four women had informed the House Ethics Committee that they had been paid to go to parties that included sex and drugs, and that Gaetz had also attended. The committee has Gaetz’s Venmo transactions that allegedly show payments for the women.
Gaetz has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and has called the committee’s investigation a “frivolous” smear campaign.
Some of the allegations of sexual misconduct under review by the committee were also the subject of a previous Department of Justice probe into Gaetz. Federal investigators sought to determine if Gaetz violated sex trafficking and obstruction of justice laws, but no charges were filed.
The House Ethics Committee resumed its investigation into Gaetz in 2023, following the Justice Department’s decision not to pursue charges against him.
Gaetz has long blamed then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, also a Republican, for the probe. And Gaetz later led the movement to sack McCarthy as speaker.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.