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A grand jury indicted Roger Coletti, 69, on nine counts of health care claims fraud for filing bogus bills with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey and UnitedHealthcare Inc. over an eight-month period beginning December 2010, acting New Jersey Attorney General John J. Hoffman said Wednesday morning.
Coletti is also charged with one count each of insurance fraud and attempted theft by deception for submitting fraudulent claims to those companies and Aetna Insurance Company between April 2006 and October 2011, the attorney general said.
According to Hoffman, Coletti "filed multiple claims for the same service to the same person under the different tax identification numbers assigned to three facilities he owned and operated on Sears Drive: North American Diagnostics, Interventional Cardiovascular Associates, and Bergen Medical Images.
The case was referred to the Office of The Insurance Fraud Prosecutor by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, he said.
“Breaking the law in the name of greed is as egregious as it gets for a health care provider,” Hoffman said.
“Our office will thoroughly investigate any allegations of fraud on the part of licensed professionals to protect the veracity of the health care system and ensure that anyone who violates the law is held responsible for their crimes,' acting state Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Christopher Iu added.
Deputy Attorney General Dennis Kwasnik presented the case to the grand jury. Detectives Amy Carson and Heather Pittman coordinated the investigation.
Iu noted that some important cases have started with anonymous tips. People who are concerned about insurance cheating and have information about a fraud can report it anonymously by calling a toll‑free hotline at 1‑877‑55‑FRAUD, or visiting www.NJInsurancefraud.org.
Rewards are sometimes paid for arrests, prosecutions and convictions.
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