Richard Scrushy – HealthSouth
He built a rehabilitation empire on alleged fraud. Now he's trying to rehabilitate his reputation.
Richard Scrushy beat the rap that the FBI laid on him in 2004 for accounting and securities irregularities at HealthSouth. But after his acquittal, he was convicted in a corruption and bribery scandal involving former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman.
Prosecutors alleged that Scrushy agreed to pay more than $500,000 of Siegelman’s debt in exchange for a seat on the Certificates of Need Review Board – which reviews hospitals and approves their construction. Scrushy was sentenced to six years in prison in 2007 and was released in 2012.
At HealthSouth, Scrushy oversaw a $6.5 billion acquisition spree, possibly aided by phony accounting, prosecutors alleged. He took over rehabilitation, surgery and diagnostic clinics nationwide, and in serving the sick and dying, he paid himself a fortune.
He was accused of using intimidation, threats, and cash payments to coerce top HealthSouth executives into committing fraud. And in the end he blamed his underlings.
He defends himself vigorously, wrapping himself in religion, patriotism and victimhood to this day. He bills himself as a “business visionary” and “inspirational speaker” on his website richardscrushy.com.
“Richard Scrushy was born in 1952 in Selma, Alabama, a town known as the birthplace of the civil-rights movement. He grew up modestly in a home with working parents and he has an older sister and a younger brother. The Scrushy’s attended the Methodist church, where Mr. Scrushy sang in the youth choir and participated in the Methodist Youth Fellowship. He was active in Boy Scouts and little-league baseball, and at the age of eight, Richard taught himself to play piano and guitar. Throughout school, he played piano and organ at dances and parties.”