Department of Justice
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
CONTACT: Fred Alverson |
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CINCINNATI -Nico Capurro, former coroner of Clermont County, pleaded guilty in United States District Court here today to one count of structuring money transactions to avoid reporting requirements in connection with cash he received from his involvement with seven "pain clinics" in Lucasville, Chillicothe, Hanging Rock, and Jackson, Ohio. Capurro also agreed to forfeit $88,000 involved in the transactions.
Gregory G. Lockhart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; J. Mark Batts, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cincinnati Field Division; Jose Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation; Lamont Pugh, III, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and Lawrence County Sheriff Timothy W. Sexton announced the plea entered today before Senior United States District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel.
Structuring, a type of money laundering, carries a maximum punishment of five years imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000 and three years of supervised release. No sentencing date has been set.
According to a statement of facts filed with Capurro's plea, he manipulated five deposits of cash and cashier's checks into brokerage and bank accounts he owned in order to keep each transaction under $10,000. Federal law requires financial institutions to report cash transactions of $10,000 or more. Capurro made the deposits between May 2001 and June 2002.
"Capurro also agreed to comply with an audit by the IRS to determine if his activities created any additional tax liability for him," Lockhart said. "Capurro also agreed to cooperate with investigators in the ongoing investigation."
In addition to his involvement with the clinics, he was also the attending physician of the Medical Rehabilitation Clinic pain clinic in Manchester, Ohio. The clinics accepted cash payments only ranging from $150 to $250 per patient per visit, and saw between 30 and 70 patients per day. None of the clinics maintained any diagnostic equipment.
Lockhart commended the
cooperative investigation by agents of the FBI, IRS, HHS and deputies in the
Lawrence County Sheriff's Office, and Deputy Criminal Chief Anthony Springer,
who is prosecuting the case.