Indiana surgeon arrested on Italian mountainside pleads not guilty to fraud and malpractice

Doctor nabbed in Italy held without bond in Ind.

HAMMOND, Ind. — An Indiana surgeon who was arrested on an Italian mountainside after more than five years on the run from the law has pleaded not guilty to fraud and malpractice charges.

Dr. Mark Weinberger told U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul R. Cherry on Thursday that he would not seek bond. He also waived the reading of the 22 counts of health care fraud against him.

The 46-year-old is accused of lying to patients about performing surgeries, including putting patients under anesthesia and then not performing the promised surgeries.

He was arrested in Italy in December after a mountain guide tipped off authorities that Weinberger was living in a tent with high-tech mountain survival gear.