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Somerset County Man Sentenced After Defrauding $4 Mil From Brain Injury Fund: Feds Somerset County Man Sentenced After Defrauding $4 Mil From Brain Injury Fund: Feds
Somerset County Man Sentenced After Defrauding $4 Mil From Brain Injury Fund: Feds A 58-year-old Somerset County man was sentenced on Thursday, Nov. 14,  to 7.5 years in prison after he was convicted of defrauding millions from the New Jersey Brain Injury Fund, authorities said. C.R. Kraus, a Manville resident, was convicted in April of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, five acts of healthcare fraud, and four counts of tax evasion, US Attorney Philip Sellinger said. Two of Kraus' co-conspirators pled guilty for their role in the scheme and are awaiting sentencing, Sellinger said. From 2009 to 2019, Kraus and his co-conspirators conspired to defraud the brai…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
Jersey Shore Doctor Who Wrote $5M In Fraudulent Prescriptions Sentenced, Feds Say Jersey Shore Doctor Who Wrote $5M In Fraudulent Prescriptions Sentenced, Feds Say
Jersey Shore Doctor Who Wrote $5M In Fraudulent Prescriptions Sentenced, Feds Say A Margate doctor will spend more than a year in prison for his role in a $5 million prescription kickback scheme, authorities said. Brian Sokalsky, 46, was sentenced on Tuesday, Oct. 29 to a year and three months in prison, said Vikas Khanna, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, in a news release. Sokalsky previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit healthcare fraud by prescribing compound medications. Sokalsky was a doctor at Jersey Shore Sports Medicine. His online biography said he graduated with a bachelor's degree in exercise science from R…

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
Jersey Shore Couple Failed To Report $4.5 Million In Income: Prosecutor Jersey Shore Couple Failed To Report $4.5 Million In Income: Prosecutor
Jersey Shore Couple Failed To Report $4.5 Million In Income: Prosecutor A Jersey Shore couple was arrested and charged on Tuesday, Oct. 15, with failing to report nearly $4.5 million in income over five years, authorities said. An analysis of Eli and Lauren Levy's personal and business banking records revealed that the 43-year-old Manalapan residents intentionally omitted taxable income from their jointly filed tax returns from 2018 through 2022, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago said. They did so despite their companies, Supreme Cleaning Services, LLC and Nation Wide Shippers, LLC, collecting a total of approximately $4.48 million in revenue ove…

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by Sam Barron
News
PA Lab Must Pay $7.3M To NJ After Charging $1,000 For $3 For Drug Tests: Comptroller PA Lab Must Pay $7.3M To NJ After Charging $1,000 For $3 For Drug Tests: Comptroller
PA Lab Must Pay $7.3M To NJ After Charging $1,000 For $3 For Drug Tests: Comptroller A Pennsylvania-based lab has been ordered to pay $7.3 to the state of New Jersey after overcharging New Jersey’s Medicaid program for urine drug testing services, officials said. Atlantic Diagnostic Laboratories (ADL) in Bensalem violated Medicaid regulations when it charged Medicaid as much as $1,035 per drug test while charging other payers as little as $2.38 for the same test, New Jersey's State Comptroller's office (OSC) said citing an audit report. Medicaid paid ADL between $63.40 and $180.40 for these same services. ADL also improperly billed for tests that the physician or …

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Former Wildwood Mayor Admits To Healthcare Fraud, NJ Attorney General Says Former Wildwood Mayor Admits To Healthcare Fraud, NJ Attorney General Says
Former Wildwood Mayor Admits To Healthcare Fraud, NJ Attorney General Says A former mayor of Wildwood admitted to his role in a healthcare fraud scheme that stole more than $600,000 in government funds, authorities said. Peter Byron, 68, pleaded guilty to three charges on Friday, Sept. 27, Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a news release on Monday, Sept. 30. Byron resigned as mayor in September 2023 after he was indicted in the case. According to court documents and statements, Byron, current Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr., and Deputy Mayor Steve Mikulski enrolled in the State Health Benefits Program (SHBP) despite being ineligible. The SHBP is only open…

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by Chris Spiker
News
Jersey Shore Healthcare Company To Pay $3.15M For Improperly Taking Pandemic Loan: Feds Jersey Shore Healthcare Company To Pay $3.15M For Improperly Taking Pandemic Loan: Feds
Jersey Shore Healthcare Company To Pay $3.15M For Improperly Taking Pandemic Loan: Feds An Atlantic County healthcare system will pay more than $3 million for improperly receiving a loan from a COVID-19 pandemic program, authorities said. Shore Memorial Health System has agreed to pay the federal government $3.15 million, New Jersey's U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said in a news release on Wednesday, Aug. 14. The settlement comes from Shore Memorial Physicians’ Group receiving $2.78 million in a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan. The physicians' group wasn't eligible for a PPP loan because it isn't a small business since it's an affiliate of Shore Mem…

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
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…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Doc Took Bribes From Pharma Company For Toxic Fentanyl Prescriptions: Feds NJ Doc Took Bribes From Pharma Company For Toxic Fentanyl Prescriptions: Feds
NJ Doc Took Bribes From Pharma Company For Toxic Fentanyl Prescriptions: Feds A doctor from Central Jersey is accused of taking bribes and kickbacks in exchange for prescribing potentially fatal doses of fentanyl, authorities said. Mukaram Gazi, 51, of Marlboro in Monmouth County was charged with conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks, receiving kickbacks, health care fraud and conspiring to unlawfully distribute dangerous narcotics, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig. According to Thursday's indictment: Gazi owned a urology practice with offices in Freehold, Hamilton, Howell and Toms River.  Gazi received more than $130,000 in bribes and…

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by Jon Craig
News
Authorities: Ring Got 30,000 Painkiller Pills With Prescription Blanks Swiped From NJ Hospitals Authorities: Ring Got 30,000 Painkiller Pills With Prescription Blanks Swiped From NJ Hospitals
Authorities: Ring Got 30,000 Painkiller Pills With Prescription Blanks Swiped From NJ Hospitals Using prescription blanks stolen from hospitals in Bergen and Passaic counties, a crew used a single pharmacy to get its hands on 30,000 high-dose oxycodone pills, including a year’s worth of painkillers prescribed to a dead man, authorities charged. The volume eventually gave them away, state and federal law enforcement officials said. Milagros Santiago, 43, of Haledon, was working as a pharmacy technician at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson when she swiped prescription blanks, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. The forged blanks were then filled at Panther Vall…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Pharmacy Worker From Fort Lee Admits Role In Multi-Million-Dollar Health Care Fraud Pharmacy Worker From Fort Lee Admits Role In Multi-Million-Dollar Health Care Fraud
Pharmacy Worker From Fort Lee Admits Role In Multi-Million-Dollar Health Care Fraud A massive federal health fraud case claimed another conspirator when a Fair Lawn pharmacy employee from Fort Lee admitted participating in a scheme that cost a federal workers' compensation program millions of dollars. Zachary Ohebshalom, 34, was the second of five defendants to take a plea deal from federal prosecutors, less than a month after Estela Arco-Blaustein, 55, of Mahwah pleaded out in U.S. District Court in Newark for her role in the scheme. Still facing charges is Dr. Mark Filippone, 71, of Wallington. Their scheme to fill bogus prescriptions for medically unnecessary pain crea…

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by Jerry DeMarco