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Dov Rand was among 13 physicians and a nurse practitioner arrested by federal agents a little over two years ago.
He copped a plea deal last May, leading to today’s sentence in Newark, which includes Rand forfeiting $8,325 in ill-gotten property.
Rand, a muscle doctor who specialized in bioidentical hormone therapy, referred more than a dozen patients for MRI tests at Orange Community MRI in West Orange, the government said.
The patients, in turn, underwent pricey scans and tests, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said.
“I was filmed this week on Housewives of New Jersey. I’m going to be on TV,” Rand told a government informant during a secretly taped conversation, according to a complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Newark. “I’m doing that, so, I’m going to get a lot more patients coming my way.”
Rand gave advice to Caroline Manzo in an episode of the show.
“At the end of each calendar month, individuals at OCM printed patient reports that detailed how many diagnostic tests – including MRIs, ultrasounds, echocardiograms, CAT Scans, and dual-emission X-ray absorptiometries — were referred by each of the defendants,” Fishman said. “These patient reports were used to calculate the payment owed to each defendant.
“The exact nature of the payments differed per agreement; some of the doctors were only paid for MRI and CAT Scan referrals, while other defendants also were paid for the referral of ultrasounds, echocardiograms, and dual-emission X-ray absorptiometries.”
Rand practiced in the Wayne and West Orange areas for more than 10 years after attending Rutgers, going to medical school at Howard University in Washington, D.C., completing his internship at St. Barnabas Medical Center and serving a residency in rehabilitation medicine at the Albert Einstein Medical Center in New York.
In addition to the prison term and home confinement, U.S. District Judge Claire C. Cecchi sentenced him to two years of supervised release and fined Rand $30,000.
Fishman thanked agents with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General, as well as investigators with the IRS and the Union County Prosecutor’s Office, for making the case, presented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph Mack and Scott B. McBride of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Healthcare and Government Fraud Unit in Newark.
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