WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A 23-year-old Florida man who posed as a doctor and spent prison time as a teenager, has been arrested again on charges of fraud and grand theft, police said.
Malachi Love-Robinson was released hours after his arrest on Thursday, WPTV in West Palm Beach reported.
According to police, Love-Robinson asked clients to send money to his personal bank account rather than to the shipping company he worked for. He is accused of taking over $10,000 that belonged to the company.
A police report said Love-Robinson sent text messages to the company’s owner, saying he’s truly sorry and he is doing everything he can “to make it right,” the television station reported. “I don’t want to go to jail,” Love-Robinson said, according to the report.
He pleaded guilty to several fraud charges, grand theft and practicing medicine without a license stemming from his arrest in 2016.
Patients told investigators Love-Robinson claimed he held several degrees, including a Ph.D. and a M.D. They didn’t realize he was only 18 years old at the time.
He was accused of stealing $35,000 from an elderly patient in 2015, and authorities say he was illegally operating a medical practice, complete with an office, a lab coat and stethoscope. He was also later charged with grand theft.
Love-Robinson insisted he didn’t pose as a medical doctor, but was a naturopathic physician.
He served nearly 21 months in a maximum security prison near Fort Myers.
Records didn’t list a phone number for Love-Robinson, or indicate whether he has a lawyer.
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