Find Your Daily Voice
45°
Tappin' IT: Manager Admits Embezzling $4.5M From NJ Brain Injury Fund For Sex With Gal Pals
The now-former manager of a fund for traumatic brain injury patients in New Jersey admitted diverting more than $4.5 million in public money to women he was having sex with, authorities said.
Harry Pizutelli, 64, of Edison, pleaded guilty by videoconference to conspiring to commit health care fraud before a federal judge in Trenton, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced on Wednesday, Jan. 4.
One of the women who benefitted from the scheme, Maritza Flores, 45, of Toms River, pleaded guilty to the same charge, as well as to tax evasion, Sellinger said.
In exchange, Pizutelli had amorou…
Feds: Ex-Lodi HS Teacher Admits Scamming Insurance Out Of $550,000 For Compound Meds
A now-former Lodi High School teacher admitted that he collected $550,000 worth of compound medications through bogus claims to an employee benefit program.
Jason Nardachone, 51, of Nutley bribed three other teachers $500 a month each to obtain compounded medications that they, like him, didn’t need, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said.
Some of the unnecessary compounded medications – for vitamins and pain and scar creams -- cost the New Jersey School Employees’ Health Benefits Program (SEHBP) $3,300 to $22,800 apiece, she said.
All told, Nardachone and his accomplices defrauded the…
Feds In NJ Charge Rockland Doc, Wife With $1.3M Genetic Testing Scheme
COVID-19 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 from his offices in Pennsylvania, a federal grand jury in Newark charged.
Yitzchok “Barry” Kurtzer, 61,and Robin Kurtzer, 60, both of Monsey, collected monthly cash kickbacks and bribes ranging in exchange for “collecting DNA samples from Medicare patients and sending them for genetic tests to clinical laboratories in New Jersey and Pennsylvania,” Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Rachael Honig said.
The payoffs ranged up $5,00…
Hudson Pharmacy Owner's Son Admits Role In $99M Kickback Scheme Uncovered By Feds
The son of a former Union City pharmacy co-owner admitted his role Thursday in a multimillion-dollar scheme to boost prescription sales by paying kickbacks and bribes to health care professionals.
Alex Fleyshmakher, 34, of Morganville, worked for his father, Igor Fleyshmakher of Holmdel, at Prime Aid in Union City.
He was also an on-paper owner of Prime Aid Bronx, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said.
Operating out of both locations, the now-defunct Prime Aid Pharmacies processed expensive medications used to treat various conditions, including Hepatitis C, Crohn’s disease, and rheum…
LI Moving Company Owner, North Jersey Employee Admit $540,000 Low-Ball Extortion Scheme
A Nassau County moving company owner and a Passaic County woman who worked for him admitted in federal court that they extorted customers out of nearly $550,000 with the old “low-ball” scam.
Lior Atiyas, 42, of Hewlett, Long Island began regularly low-balling estimates to move household goods, then jacking up the price by two to three times once the items were on the trucks, in early 2016, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said Friday.
He then refused to deliver the goods until the customers paid up, Carpenito said.
Atiyas recruited Lola Larios, 37, of Haledon into the scheme when she joined t…
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…
‘Patient Brokers' Admit Bribing, Flying NJ Drug Addicts To Cali Rehab Clinics
UPDATE: Two out-of-state men admitted paying “recruiters” to bribe drug addicts in New Jersey to go to rehab centers that they got business from -- some of which were as far as California.
Seth Logan Welsh, 26, of Forest Hill, MD, and John C. Devlin, 33, of Baltimore told a U.S. District judge in Trenton via teleconference that they hired a Red Bank bank man, among others, to carry out the scheme so they could collect referral fees from the rehab centers.
That man, Peter Costas, paid addicts several thousand dollars to use specific rehab centers in New Jersey and other states -- whether th…
Feds Charge More Retired NFL Players In $3.4 Million Health Fraud
Three more former NFL players, one of them from the Jersey Shore, were among several who federal authorities said illegally collected $3.4 million in a massive health care scam.
Darrell Reid, 38, of Farmingdale, who played linebacker for the 2007 Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos and the Indianapolis Colts, was among the three additional players named in a U.S. District Court indictment.
The others are former Tennessee Titans and Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Antwan Odom, 38, of Irvington, Alabama and Anthony Montgomery, 36, of Cleveland, who played defensive end for the team formerly k…
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…
‘Hit & Run’ Dentist With Offices In Passaic, Hudson, Union Gets License Pulled, $517,000 Fine
An oral surgeon who needlessly pulled teeth and exorbitant payments from patients in Passaic, Hudson, Union and Monmouth counties had his license yanked and was fined more than $500,000, state authorities announced Tuesday.
Andrew Maron, 58, had been prohibited from practicing in New Jersey since the state filed negligence, gross negligence and professional misconduct charges against him in 2015. Still, he continued to practice in New York, authorities said.
New Jersey authorities said they pursued Maron after receiving complaints from no fewer than 17 patients, including a 93-year-old Medi…
