If you read the news this morning, than you probably saw the story about the Lebanese oncologist in Detroit that just had his bail set at $9,000,000.  When most people see a story about the criminal justice system, especially one involving the setting of a very large bail bond, they typically know very little about the topic.  In order to help educate people a bit, we thought we would explain what this really means in this next bail bond blog post…so here we go.

First, when a bond is set by a judge, that essentially is the same as the judge making a public statement that the defendant is not a danger to the community or a flight risk (if the defendant was either of those, the judge could make the decision to hold them without setting a bond…each state has different requirements/guidelines for judges to use in this determination).  Once the judge determines eligibility for bail, they must then determine the exact dollar amount of the bond based on many factors (it can’t be too high or too low).  These include previous criminal history, the extent of the current charges, current assets of the defendant and their family, etc.  This information helps the judge determine the amount that will incentivize the defendant to show up for court…in other words, what is the amount that the defendant will see as detrimental to himself and his family if he doesn’t show up.   This is not an easy task as the judge has many variables to consider.  However, for the most part, judges do a very good job at setting this amount.

Once the amount is set, the family can either put up the full amount of the bond with the court or use a commercial bail bondsman.  In the family chooses to put up the full amount, they would need to deposit all the money with the court and once the case was fully adjudicated the money would be returned to the family minus any court costs and fees.  On the other hand, if the family did not want to put up the full amount of the bond, they could contact a bail bond agent who would put up an insurance policy with the court for the full amount of the bond (that is what a bail bond actually is…an insurance policy).  The family would pay the bail bond agent a 10% fee or premium to obtain the bail bond insurance policy.  Once the case is over, the bond is exonerated and the family’s obligation to the court and bail bond agent is complete.  However, unlike when you put up the money directly with the court, the premium that is paid to the bail bond agent (much like any other insurance policy premium payment…i.e., auto insurance, health insurance, etc.) is non-refundable.   In the instance that the defendant does not show up for court, the bail bond agent and the family are on the hook for the full amount of the bond.

So in this recent case out of Detroit, Michigan where an oncologist was arrested for defrauding Medicare and given a $9,000,000 bail, his options are to pay the full amount to the court or find a bail agent willing to underwrite a $9,000,000 insurance policy which would cost 10% of the full bond amount or $900,000.  To learn more about the bail bond industry visit expertbail.com and watch some of our bail bond videos.   Read the original article about the Detroit oncologist below.

Original article: Update: Judge Orders Jailed Oncologist to Post $9 Million Bond

Written by: Eric Granof