CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands — A U.S. Virgin Islands judge tightened bail conditions for a former hospital CEO on Wednesday amid a criminal probe of alleged embezzlement and financial mismanagement.
CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands — A U.S. Virgin Islands judge tightened bail conditions for a former hospital CEO on Wednesday amid a criminal probe of alleged embezzlement and financial mismanagement. Rodney E. Miller, of Westin, Florida, is one of three former administrators at the Schneider Regional Medical Center in St. Thomas under investigation for allegedly using hundreds of thousands of dollars in public money to fund lucrative compensation packages. Superior Court Judge Michael Dunston ordered Miller to notify probation officials whenever he travels. The judge noted "strong evidence" that Miller has previously broken bail conditions, including failing to continually reside at his registered address. Prosecutors had called for Miller to be jailed until the completion of his trial, which begins in October. A U.S. government audit last year accused Miller and two other defendants of colluding with the hospital’s board to hide bloated compensation packages and of lying to legislators about the hospital’s cash flow. The audit cited an "alarming depth of mismanagement" between 2005 and 2008, when the hospital lost some $25.4 million a year on average. Miller and his co-defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges. He also faces one count of lying to the government stemming from an alleged attempt to hide a 1995 criminal conviction when applying for a job at the St. Thomas hospital. Miller pleaded guilty then to larceny and obstruction of justice, leading to a bad-conduct discharge from the U.S. Navy, according to the U.S. territory’s Justice Department. He left the CEO post at Schneider in November 2007. A month later, he was named administrator of Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Fla., but he quit last year. ______ Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
