Maryland hospital network seeking $400,000 in restitution from former Baltimore Mayor Pugh, chairman

[Anonymous]

https://www.baltimoresun.com/politics/bs-md-pol-umms-pugh-update-20200131-mgczjradlrfshj6gdhmis26qki-story.html

The University of Maryland Medical System is seeking to recover hundreds of thousands of dollars paid to disgraced former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh for her “Healthy Holly” books, top officials of the hospital network testified Thursday in Annapolis.
“We have recovered $100,000 of the $500,000,” James C. “Chip” DiPaula Jr., the new chairman of the system’s board, told the House of Delegates’ Health and Government Operations Committee. “We are working with the U.S. prosecutors to recover the balance.”

Pugh, who resigned as mayor last spring as the book scandal unfolded, has since pleaded guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion charges and awaits sentencing Feb. 27. Pugh’s attorney, Steve Silverman, declined to comment Thursday.
DiPaula and Dr. Mohan Suntha, the system’s new CEO, appeared before the House committee Thursday afternoon, seeking to assure lawmakers that the state’s largest hospital network is undergoing reforms after last year’s high-profile self-dealing scandal.

The institution has been under fire since March, when The Baltimore Sun reported a third of its 30 board members or their companies had financial deals with the system, some of which were not competitively bid. They included Pugh, a Democrat who made hundreds of thousands of dollars selling her “Healthy Holly” children’s books in a sole-source arrangement with UMMS.

This is a insane story that’s getting worse by the day.