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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General

Kickbacks Convinced Doc To Scam Medicare Out Of Nearly $21 Million: NJ Feds Kickbacks Convinced Doc To Scam Medicare Out Of Nearly $21 Million: NJ Feds
Kickbacks Convinced Doc To Scam Medicare Out Of Nearly $21 Million: NJ Feds A doctor pocketed cash kickbacks from lab companies and others for filing more than $20.7 million in bogus Medicare claims for medically unnecessary -- and often expensive -- COVID and cancer genetic tests, among other scams, a federal grand jury in Newark has charged. Alexander Baldonado, 68, of Queens already was awaiting trial dating back to charges brought a few years ago when grand jurors in Newark this week returned a superseding indictment that digs deeper into the allegations. Baldonado approved lab tests billed to Medicare in exchange for cash payoffs "from a laboratory representat…
Jersey Shore Business Owner From NY Admits $127M Health Care Kickback Scheme: Feds Jersey Shore Business Owner From NY Admits $127M Health Care Kickback Scheme: Feds
Jersey Shore Business Owner From NY Admits $127M Health Care Kickback Scheme: Feds A New Jersey marketing company owner from Rockland County admitted in federal court that he was a major figure in scamming Medicare, TRICARE and other benefit programs out of $127 million. Eric Karlewicz, 44, of Chestnut Ridge, NY, participated in a “circular scheme of kickbacks and bribes” with doctors, durable medical equipment businesses and telemedicine companies to pull off the massive con, U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna said. Karlewicz – also known as Anthony Mazza -- used his considerable cut from $63.8 million in payoffs to buy himself a fleet of luxury vehicles that included a Ferrari,…
Feds Charge Jersey Shore Pain Management Doc With Massive $24.6M Billing Fraud Feds Charge Jersey Shore Pain Management Doc With Massive $24.6M Billing Fraud
Feds Charge Jersey Shore Pain Management Doc With Massive $24.6M Billing Fraud A Jersey Shore pain management doctor accused of running a $24.6 million fraud scheme billed insurance plans for more than 24 hours worth of services in a single day no fewer than 900 times, federal authorities said Monday. 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 ma…
NJ Feds: COVID Couldn't Slow Doc, Wife In Multi-Million Dollar Bribery Scam NJ Feds: COVID Couldn't Slow Doc, Wife In Multi-Million Dollar Bribery Scam
NJ Feds: COVID Couldn't Slow Doc, Wife In Multi-Million Dollar Bribery Scam The coronavirus pandemic hardly fazed a Rockland doctor who with his wife continued to collect bribes and kickbacks in exchange for ordering millions of dollars in genetic tests, federal authorities said Thursday. Yitzachok “Barry” Kurtzer, 60, of Monsey operated an office in Scranton, PA, as did another physician, Lee Besen, 64, of Waverly, PA, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Craig Carpenito said. Both collected monthly cash kickbacks and bribes ranging from $500 to $5,000 in exchange for “collecting DNA samples from Medicare patients and sending them for genetic tests to clinical laboratorie…
South Jersey Grocery Store Owner Admits $260,000 Food Stamp Scam South Jersey Grocery Store Owner Admits $260,000 Food Stamp Scam
South Jersey Grocery Store Owner Admits $260,000 Food Stamp Scam A Camden grocery store owner admitted trading drugs and cash for government-issued debit cards that he and several accomplices used to steal $260,000 in benefits intended for families in need. Luciano Estevez, 50, pleaded guilty on Wednesday via teleconference after federal agents caught him and three of the others in a sting, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, allows users to buy necessary groceries. Although exchanging SNAP cards for cash is illegal, Estevez and his acco…
Franklin Lakes Doctor Gets 18 Months In Fed Pen For Test Company Bribes Franklin Lakes Doctor Gets 18 Months In Fed Pen For Test Company Bribes
Franklin Lakes Doctor Gets 18 Months In Fed Pen For Test Company Bribes FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J. -- A physician from Franklin Lakes was sentenced to a plea-bargained 18 months in federal prison Wednesday for his role in a massive test-referral bribery scheme. Basel Batarseh, 57, will have to serve the entire term: There is no parole in the federal prison system. Batarseh, who had an internal medicine practice in West New York, previously admitted that he took more than $104,000 in payoffs from employees and associates of Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services LLC (BLS) of Parsippany between November 2007 and August 2010. In exchange, Batarseh said, he generated more t…