Michael Lucchesi, MD, former chair of emergency medicine and chief medical officer at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in New York City, has been sentenced to one to three years in prison for embezzling $1.44 million from the hospital.
Dr. Lucchesi pleaded guilty in June to one count of first-degree grand larceny. In addition, he agreed to pay $720,000 in restitution, which included restitution of $63,926 to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance and $656,074 to Downstate Hospital’s clinical practice.
Between Dec. 1, 2016 and Jan. 31, 2023, Dr. Lucchesi made personal purchases using a credit card meant to be used for business purposes only by members of the clinical practice, University Physicians of Brooklyn, of SUNY Downstate.
“This defendant was entrusted with a leadership role at a critical Brooklyn medical institution and violated that trust by stealing nearly $1.5 million,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in an Aug. 6 news release. “SUNY Downstate does vital, lifesaving work, and these stolen funds could have been used to support patient care and medical services. Instead, they were diverted for personal expenses over a period of years. With today’s sentence, the defendant is being held accountable for this serious breach of trust.”
The thefts were discovered by SUNY during an audit.
“SUNY took immediate action and alerted authorities when these illegal activities were uncovered by SUNY’s auditors, and we greatly appreciate the partnership of the district attorney and inspector general, in particular, in bringing this matter to a close,” SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. said in a statement provided to Becker’s. “With more stringent internal controls and comprehensive oversight systems in place, SUNY Downstate is now in a stronger position.”
