http://www.post-trib.com/news/1953763,weinberger1223.article
December 23, 2009
BY JOSEPHINE MCKENNA, POST-TRIBUNE CORRESPONDENT
ROME -- America's most wanted doctor, Mark Weinberger, could be taken back to the United States to face massive medical fraud charges before the end of January.
An Italian court in the northern city of Turin on Tuesday approved an extradition request from the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI after the 46-year old surgeon was arrested near Col Ferret, an Alpine pass on the border of France and Italy a week ago.
Mark Weinberger
A statement released by the Turin Court of Appeal deputy chief prosecutor, Gianfranco Burdino, late Tuesday said the Italian court had approved an extradition request from U.S. authorities after Weinberger had declined to formally oppose it. The same court approved an arrest warrant for Weinberger when he was detained by police on Dec. 15.
"Weinberger has agreed to be sent back to the U.S.A. and so, the Court of Appeal has issued the order to have him transferred to American authorities," Burdino said in a statement released to The Post-Tribune.
"The terms of Weinberger's transfer will be determined by the Italian Ministry of Justice at a date still to be decided."
Court officials who did not want to be named said that since there was no opposition from Weinberger, he could be transferred to the U.S within one or two months.
Weinberger, the "nose doctor" described as the "king of fraud" in the Italian media, was tracked down by police last week in a tent pitched in the shadows of Europe's highest mountain, Mont Blanc.
After being alerted by Interpol, Italian police had a tip-off that Weinberger had been living in the region of Courmayeur, a sophisticated ski resort at the base of the 15,000 foot mountain.
In a dramatic twist, the doctor tried to stab himself in the throat when police took him in for questioning and he was transferred to Molinette hospital in Turin.
A hospital spokesman confirmed that Weinberger's condition was not serious and police had removed him from his room on Tuesday for questioning. The Post-Tribune was unable to confirm whether he was present in court for the hearing or whether he had retained an Italian lawyer.
Weinberger was indicted by a federal grand jury in Hammond in 2006 on 22 counts of fraud for allegedly overbilling insurance companies for procedures that were either not required or never performed.
The surgeon is also understood to be facing around 300 civil claims filed by patients against him.
Under the extradition treaty signed by the U.S. and Italy in 1983, the two countries recognized a mutual interest in cooperating for the "repression of crime" and the reciprocal extradition of offenders. Requests for extradition must be made via "diplomatic channels" accompanied by arrest warrants and other relevant evidence.
Under the Italian Constitution, the only American offender who may be exempt from extradition to the U.S. would be one facing the death penalty.
The U.S. Embassy in Rome declined to comment on the Weinberger case.
