Trump’s last-minute pardoning effort included a Wichita native

Before handing over the White House keys to the new administration on Wednesday, President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of 70 people and pardoned an additional 73 people — including a Wichita native.

Todd Farha, a former CEO of WellCare Health Plans in Florida, along with four other former executives of the healthcare company all received full pardons, according to the last news release from the Trump administration. The case involved a “$35 million health care fraud scheme” that allegedly took money from the Florida Medicaid program, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Farha is the son of the late S. Jim Farha, a former surgeon and philanthropist in Wichita who died last year.

“Notably, there was no evidence that any of the individuals were motivated by greed,” the administration’s news release says. ‘And in fact, the sentencing judge called the likelihood that there was any personal financial motivation ‘infinitesimal.”’

Four of the former healthcare company employees, including Farha, were convicted in 2013 on charges related to fraud and making false statements, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Another one of the executives later pleaded guilty to a charge involving a false statement, the Times reported.

“The judge imposed a range of sentences from probation to 3 years’ imprisonment, reflecting the conduct as an aberration from these individuals’ otherwise law-abiding lives,” the White House statement on the pardons said.

Last year, WellCare merged with Centene Corp.

This story was originally published January 20, 2021 at 6:44 PM.