It's Back To Jail For Former Beachwood Chiropractor

TOMS RIVER, NJ - Former Beachwood chiropractor Carlo Amato isn't going anywhere but back to the Ocean County Jail.

Superior Court Judge Michael T. Collins on Thursday ordered the 56-year-old back to jail after authorities found evidence earlier this month that he might have been planning to flee the United States, according to a report inapp.com.

Collins set Amato's bail at $200,000.

"Mr. Amato has continued to ignore almost every court order during his release. Mr. Amato seems to think he is above the law," Senior Assistant Prosecutor Jill O'Malley said. "Perhaps it is because he has a degree, or he has money. Mr. Amato does not think the rules apply to him."

Authorities found parcels of $180,000 in vacuum-sealed bundles of $10,000 each, an expired Ukrainian passport, a Mexican identification care with Amato's picture and an alias and a New Jersey driver's license with Amato's picture, O'Malley said.

Amato posted $150,000 bail back in December of 2016, just before the state'a new bail law took effect and was released. Amato was charged with four counts of health care claims fraud and possession of fentanyl, a controlled dangerous substance, back in 2015, after a search of his home, office and two luxury cars, Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato has said.

Amato is now facing more theft, money laundering, fraud and the drug charge after an October indictment. He is facing a dozen criminal charges, according to the report.

Authorities believed he had sent money to Russia, where they also suspect his wife was waiting for him. An undercover federal agent received chiropractic services at Amato's clinic despite Amato giving up his license, O'Malley said. There were also new allegations of disability fraud.

Amato's attorney, Thomas Ashton, argued that his client maintained his innocence, faced no accusations of violent crimes, had stopped practicing and had no assets to flee with.

"The risk of flight trumps everything else in this matter," Collins said.

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Photo: Courtesy of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office