[Image description: a photo of Kevin B. Lake]
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Columbus Doctor Admits to Running Medical Center as Drug Premises
A Columbus doctor has pleaded guilty to running a medical center as a drug premises, tax evasion and money laundering charges. Kevin B. Lake, 50, of New Albany, Ohio, admitted to prescribing controlled substances to patients without a legitimate medical purpose.
According to court documents, Lake owned and managed Columbus Southern Medical Center through one or more corporate or trust entities which he used to insulate himself from the illegal drug trafficking being conducted at the clinic. He pleaded guilty to maintaining the clinic as a drug premises and admitted that he exclusively controlled all of the proceeds generated by the illegal activity being conducted by the doctors, physician assistants and staff at the clinic, which was more than $38 million in payments for patient visits.
Lake also agreed to plead guilty to tax evasion on his personal income tax returns and admitted to filing fraudulent tax returns for his corporations and trusts. He paid himself more than $90,000 in 2010 through 2013 from the clinic entities, which he did not report as income, but instead disguised as phony rental payments ostensibly for use of his personal residence for corporate retreats.
The doctor also admitted to causing the filing of corporate tax returns that falsely claimed inflated depreciation deductions for nearly $7.4 million in so-called “equipment” purchases by his corporations from his trust for tax years 2005 through 2011. He also admitted to falsely reporting these purchases as capital gains on his trust tax returns rather than as ordinary income, thereby securing a much lower tax rate. Lake’s tax crimes caused a tax loss of more than $3.5 million.
After the DEA first appeared at the clinic in June 2010, Lake took several steps to separate himself from the drug premises; he stopped paying himself a salary, and instead filed a fraudulent claim for disability payments from his two disability insurers. The insurance companies ultimately denied his claims, and only paid out $18,000.
Lake agreed to plead guilty to drug, tax and fraud charges and agreed to the forfeiture of what remains from the $29 million in seized funds earned from the clinic’s illegal activities, after restitution is paid from the funds. He is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court at a later date.
Key Facts
- State: Ohio
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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