Former Healthcare Executive Pleads Guilty to Bribing Arkansas State Senator [View all]

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A former executive of Preferred Family Healthcare, Inc., pleaded guilty in federal court today to his role in a conspiracy to bribe an Arkansas state senator to influence public policy for the benefit of the charity and its executives.

Robin Raveendran, 63, of Little Rock, Arkansas, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to a federal information that charges him with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds.

Raveendran worked for Preferred Family Healthcare (formerly known as Alternative Opportunities, Inc.) from 2014 to 2017 as a director of operations, executive vice president, and analyst. Prior to his employment with the charity, Raveendran was employed by the state of Arkansas as director of program integrity for the Arkansas Department of Human Services, Division of Medical Services, and then as business operations manager with the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General.

By pleading guilty today, Raveendran admitted that he participated in a conspiracy to bribe then-Arkansas State Senator Jeremy Young Hutchinson, who is charged in a separate case, in order to influence and reward Hutchinson in exchange for Hutchinson taking legislative and official action favorable to Preferred Family Healthcare and its executives.

Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmo/pr/former-healthcare-executive-pleads-guilty-bribing-arkansas-state-senator