By Olivia Scheck
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Four medical school graduates were allegedly so desperate to get a job at Harlem Hospital that they tried to bribe their way in, prosecutors said.
The aspiring doctors allegedly paid more than $100,000 each to Alexander Everest, chairman of Elite American Health Systems, LLC, in exchange for his promise to forge documents and pay out bribes in order to win them spots in medical residency programs, prosecutors said. The California-based company had an office in Manhattan, and purported to counsel med school grads on how to get a job, prosecutors said.
Everest allegedly delivered four applications to Harlem Hospital in March 2010, after forging fake acceptance letters from a California hospital to qualify the applicants for the Harlem position.
Everest delivered $15,000 worth of checks to an unidentified Harlem Hospital Department of Surgery staffer in order to secure his clients seats in a one-year residency program, according to prosecutors.
Everest claimed that the payments were a “Thank You” and, in one case, an “Easter Love Gift,” but the Harlem Hospital official wasn’t buying it and quickly reported his actions to the DA, the statement said.
Everest was charged with four counts of bribery and forgery for submitting false evidence that his clients had secured seats in other residency programs.
He faces up to 18 years in prison if convicted.
