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Morris Antebi, 68, of Long Branch, also billed Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance companies frequently on dates when travel records show he was overseas -- including trips to China, Israel, Turkey, the Dominican Republic and across Europe – and at other times when he was otherwise out of state, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said.
Antebi, who specializes in pain management and anesthesia, owned and operated a pain management clinic chain with locations in Northfield, Manahawkin, Vineland, Sicklerville and Cape May County Courthouse.
“On certain occasions, law enforcement surveilled Antebi on days when he left the clinics early but nevertheless billed as though he saw many patients on those days,” Carpenito said.
Patients interviewed by federal agents said that Antebi “commonly saw them for only very brief periods of time, and he often did not perform any medical exams or evaluations during their visits,” the U.S. attorney said.
They also told agents that “there sometimes was no medical equipment or examination tables in the rooms at the clinics in which patients met with providers, and that patients sometimes met with providers on folding chairs in the hallway of the clinics,” he said.
From 2014 through 2020, Antebi billed more than $24.6 million for services he purportedly provided, including more than $15.3 million to Medicaid and more than $8 million to Medicare, Carpenito said.
One of the frequent offenses was billing excessively for one-day periods of time, the U.S. attorney said.
For example, he said, “Antebi billed insurance plans for more than 24 hours’ worth of services in a one-day period of time on more than 900 occasions between 2014 and 2020.
“Antebi also billed insurance companies for between 12 and 23.99 hours of purported services in a one-day period of time on more than 300 occasions,” the U.S. attorney said.
Carpenito credited agents of the FBI’s Atlantic City Resident Agency Health Care Fraud Task Force, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General’s New York Region, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and IRS-Criminal Investigation with the investigation.
He also credited Northfield police and agents from FBI Headquarters Health Care Fraud Unit Data Analysis Response Team in Washington, D.C.
Antebi was scheduled for an afternoon videoconference Monday with U.S. Magistrate Judge Joel Schneider in Camden on three counts of health care fraud, wire fraud, and mail fraud.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christina O. Hud and Daniel A. Friedman of Carpenito’s Office in Camden are handling the case.
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