Cerner fraudster dies in custody hours after conviction

Julie Spitzer -

Hours after a federal jury convicted Suresh Mitta for his role in an elaborate fraud scheme that involved selling fake MRI equipment to Dallas Medical Center, he died in U.S. Marshals custody, Dallas News reports.

While Mr. Mitta was being held in a cell with other prisoners shortly after the jury handed down his conviction, he suffered what authorities said appeared to be a seizure and died at a nearby hospital shortly after. Mr. Mitta was found guilty May 15, and a sentencing hearing had not yet been scheduled when he passed away.

Mr. Mitta and a group of five other conspirators — led by Albert Davis — developed and operated a business that impersonated the North Kansas City, Mo.-based EHR vendor Cerner to manipulate business transactions and court proceedings for personal gain. As part of the scheme, the fake Cerner attempted to sell a "new" MRI system to DMC, and believing the company was the real Cerner, DMC paid the conspirators more than $1 million for a device it never received.

DMC was just a sliver of the damage the fake Cerner caused. Between August 2008 and February 2015, several of the conspirators' victims lost millions of dollars.  

Mr. Davis pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme in a separate but related case, and the four other conspirators have already pleaded guilty and been sentenced in similar cases.

Chief Deputy Scott Seeling of the U.S. Marshals' office told Dallas News there was no "obvious sign" of trauma on Mr. Mitta's body. He faced up to 20 years in federal prison without parole.

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