Pink Fraud

A Minnesota man apparently told a hospital he was David Gilmour of Pink Floyd and racked up $100,000 in unpaid medical bills.

Police say Phillip Schaeffer, 53, arrived at St. Cloud Hospital for treatment April 20, checking in as Gilmour and claiming no health insurance. After he was treated and left, hospital employees had suspicions that he wasn’t really the Pink Floyd singer-guitarist and flagged his chart in case he returned, a hospital spokeswoman told St. Cloud Times.

Schaeffer returned April 24, told staff he was Gilmour, showed information he had insurance from Lloyds of London and told the staff Pink Floyd was on tour in Canada, police said. Schaeffer allegedly added he stopped in St. Cloud during a break to get treatment.

An emergency room doctor doubted Schaeffer’s accent “was one that he would expect from Gilmour,” according to the spokeswoman. A security officer alerted a police officer who was in the hospital on an unrelated manner. They apparently confronted Schaeffer who allegedly admitted he was not Gilmour. 

The man was booked into the Stearns county Jail on a possible charge of theft by swindle.