The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that Richard Scrushy must repay HealthSouth Corporation $51.5 million in bonuses he earned while he was CEO of HealthSouth. A Jefferson County Circuit Court judge had ruled in January that Scrushy’s bonuses were based on the false accounting entries that led to the $2.64 billion fraud perpetrated by HealthSouth executives. Scrushy, however, argued that the amount in question was part of his regular pay earned from 1997 through 2002. And although prosecutors insist Scrushy is worth at least $287 million, Scrushy says repaying HealthSouth would put him “on the brink of financial disaster,” reports The Birmingham News. Scrushy was found not guilty of participating in the fraud, but he was convicted of bribing former Gov. Don Siegelman for a spot on a hospital regulatory board. Scrushy’s lawyer says his client has not decided whether he will ask the Alabama high court to reconsider the ruling or appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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