NEWARK, N.J. – Five individuals were sentenced today for
bribing doctors in exchange for test referrals as part of a long-running and
elaborate scheme operated by Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services LLC (BLS), of
Parsippany, New Jersey, its president and numerous associates, U.S. Attorney
Craig Carpenito announced.
Doug Hurley, 38, of Hillsborough, New Jersey, and Kevin
Kerekes, 52, of Florham Park, New Jersey, were both sentenced to 24 months in
prison. Luke Chicco, 45, of Garden City, New York, was sentenced to 21 months
in prison. Kristina Hamdan, 40, of Paterson was sentenced to 41 months in
prison. David McCann, 45, of Lyndhurst, New Jersey, was sentenced to three
years of probation. U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler imposed all five
sentences today in Newark federal court.
Hurley, Kerekes, and Chicco previously pleaded guilty in
June 2013 to separate informations charging them with one count of conspiracy
to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Federal Travel Act and one count
of money laundering.
Hamdan pleaded guilty to Counts One and Thirteen of an
indictment charging her with conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute,
the Federal Travel Act and the honest services wire fraud statute, and
conspiracy to commit money laundering. McCann pleaded guilty to an information
charging him with conspiring to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute and the
Travel Act.
According to documents filed in this and related cases and
statements made in court:
Hurley, Kerekes, and Chicco each admitted that from the fall
of 2010 through April 2013, they conspired with BLS president and part owner,
David Nicoll and his brother, Scott Nicoll, to pay bribes to doctors in the
forms of cash, checks and other means in order to induce them to refer patient
blood specimens to BLS. Hurley, Kerekes, and Chicco also admitted that in some
instances, they paid bribes to doctors through sham consulting companies, which
they created and controlled, in order to hide the fact that BLS was the true
source of the bribes.
Hamdan admitted that from November 2009 through April 2013,
she paid doctors illegal bribes in exchange for blood specimen referrals to
BLS. For example, Hamdan bribed Yousef Zibdie, an internal medicine doctor with
a practice in Woodland Park, in exchange for generating more than $900,000 in
lab business for BLS. The bribes were funded by BLS and, in an effort to
obscure that BLS was the true source of the payments paid to the doctors by
Hamdan, she made the payments through a sham consulting company that she
created and controlled.
McCann paid thousands of dollars in cash on a monthly basis
between December 2011 and April 2013 to numerous physicians on behalf of BLS in
exchange for the doctors’ referral of blood specimens to BLS.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Chesler sentenced
Hurley, Chicco, Kerekes, and Hamdan a year of supervised release. Hurley,
Chicco, and Kerekes must also pay forfeiture of $800,000, $850,000, and $1.2
million, respectively. Hamdan must pay forfeiture of $1,209,890.36.
The investigation has thus far resulted in 53 convictions –
38 of them doctors – in connection with the bribery scheme, which its
organizers have admitted involved millions of dollars in bribes and resulted in
more than $100 million in payments to BLS from Medicare and various private
insurance companies. It is believed to be the largest number of medical
professionals ever prosecuted in a bribery case.
The investigation has to date recovered more than $13 million
through forfeiture. On June 28, 2016, BLS, which is no longer operational,
pleaded guilty and was required to forfeit all of its assets.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI,
under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie in Newark;
inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Acting
Inspector in Charge Ruth M. Mendonca; IRS–Criminal Investigation, under the
direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Bryant Jackson in Newark; and the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, under the
direction of Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert, with the ongoing
investigation.
The government is represented by Senior Litigation Counsel
Joseph N. Minish, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Danielle Alfonzo Walsman, Chief of
the U.S. Attorney’s Office Public Protection Unit and Jacob T. Elberg, Chief of
the Health Care and Government Fraud Unit, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney
Barbara Ward of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Unit.
Defense counsel:
Luke Chicco: Robert J. Anello Esq., New York
Doug Hurley: Michael Baldassare Esq., Newark
Kevin Kerekes: Nace Naumoski Esq., Roseland and Alan Bowman
Esq., Newark
McCann: Benjamin Choi Esq. and Joseph Horn, Esq.,
Rutherford, New Jersey
Kristina Hamdan: Edward J. Bilinkas Esq., Randolph, New
Jersey
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment