New York Post is reporting that Michail Sorodsky, a “doctor” with an office on Ocean Avenue and a residence on Emmons Avenue, has been hit with the highest bail in recent memory.
Sorodsky stands accused of sexually abusing at least eight female patients and has also been operating an unlicensed practice since 1995. The bail – $11 million cash/$33 million bond – set on the 65-year-old doctor is so high that it’s stirring up a debate: is Sorodsky being made an example with abusive bails? Or is he a potential scumbag getting what he deserves?
Here’s an excerpt from the Post:
An allegedly phony Brooklyn doctor accused of sexually abusing patients while they were under anesthesia has the dubious distinction of having the highest bail in the land: either $11 million cash or a virtually impossible $33 million bail bond.
No exact records exist, but several experts say Michail Sorodsky’s bond is the highest they have ever heard of.
“You know what they’re basically telling him?” said one. “Screw you. You’re not getting out.”
…
His astronomical bail tops even that of such high-flying fraudsters as Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski, who was tried in state court, and Ponzi king Bernard Madoff, who was charged federally. Each put up $10 million of his own cash.
Sorodsky was first charged back in late-2007, when one patient said he told her to drink a liquid that caused her to lose consciousness. When she awoke, she found Sorodsky naked and lying on top of her, according to the Brooklyn Eagle. The patient later discovered evidence that caused her to believe that she had been raped.
Attorney General Andew Cuomo’s office said Sorodsky owned and operated the Holistic Skin and Spa Clinic, located at 2701 Ocean Avenue. He was arrested and charged with numerous felonies and misdemeanors, including rape in the first degree, unlicensed practice of medicine, scheme to defraud, and numerous counts of aggravated sexual abuse, sexual abuse and forcible touching. Before additional victims came forward, Sorodsky was arraigned in Kings County Criminal Court on Nov. 30, 2007, and his bond was originally set at $3 million.
More from the Brooklyn Eagle:
Sorodsky, of 1625 Emmons Ave., preyed on Russian-speaking residents of New York City for several years, according to the Attorney General’s Office. He advertised in Russian-language newspapers to solicit patients and portrayed himself as a medical doctor who administered special medications.
Sorodsky claimed that he guaranteed the effectiveness of his treatments and that he could completely cure many ailments, including cancer. The Attorney General’s investigation found that some of Sorodsky’s cancer patients died prematurely, since they believed in Sorodsky’s ability to cure them. According to his Web site, “Sorodsky, an outstanding scientists [sic], received his education, professional and academic experience primarily in the former Soviet Union … and graduated with a Ph.D. degree in medical science.” He then studied Eastern medicine in Tibet before emigrating to the United States in 1993, settling in Brooklyn and opening up his holistic health center, where the crimes are alleged to have occurred.
“You will experience a treatment that is quick, painless and one that goes directly to your cells,” he claims on his Web site.
Sorodsky also operated another Holistic Skin & Spa in Upstate New York. The Bed & Breakfast Sanatorium in Walton is “smack in the middle of Mother Nature’s playground,” and has an Olympic-sized swimming pool, golf course, tennis courts and football fields for patients to use, according to the Web site. “Where Mother Nature Cures,” is its motto.
According to the Attorney General’s investigation, since at least 2005, Sorodsky performed physical examinations, took patients’ blood, administered what he claimed were medications and committed acts of sexual abuse on his female patients. In addition, Sorodsky allegedly bilked patients out of thousands of dollars for these ineffective and possibly harmful “treatments.”
