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Health Care Fraud

Police & Fire
'Patient Broker' From Balto Goes To Federal Prison For Preying On NJ Drug Addicts 'Patient Broker' From Balto Goes To Federal Prison For Preying On NJ Drug Addicts
'Patient Broker' From Balto Goes To Federal Prison For Preying On NJ Drug Addicts A Baltimore man was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for paying people to bribe drug addicts in New Jersey to go to specific rehab centers -- some as far as California. John Devlin, 37, is one of seven people who took deals from the government and admitted participating in a plot to defraud health insurance companies through patient brokering in several states, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. The confessed schemers enlisted "recruiters" to pay users addicted to heroin and other drugs with "robust" private health insurance several thousand dollars to ent…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
'Reckless' NJ Doc Sentenced For Defrauding Amtrak Out of $1.3 Million: Feds 'Reckless' NJ Doc Sentenced For Defrauding Amtrak Out of $1.3 Million: Feds
'Reckless' NJ Doc Sentenced For Defrauding Amtrak Out of $1.3 Million: Feds A 51-year-old Cedar Grove doctor was sentenced to 26 months in prison on Tuesday, May 7, for participating in a five-year health care fraud scheme to defraud Amtrack Muhammad Mirza had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, US Attorney Philip Sellinger said.   In 2021, Mirza was accused of recklessly injecting a hazardous dermal filler into patients seeking breast and penis enhancements — often with extremely harmful results — at dozens of offices in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, as previously reported by Daily Voice. From April…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
Crooked Cardio Doc Admits Pocketing $2 Million In Health Insurance Ripoffs Crooked Cardio Doc Admits Pocketing $2 Million In Health Insurance Ripoffs
Crooked Cardio Doc Admits Pocketing $2 Million In Health Insurance Ripoffs The owner and sole medical provider of a Middlesex County medical practice admitted in federal court that he pocketed nearly $2 million in a long-running series of blatant health insurance scams. Dr. Fazal Panezai, a 76-year-old cardiologist from Morganville, at one point submitted claims for a single day's worth of visits to his Matawan-Aberdeen Heart & Medical Center in May 2022 that totaled 27.9 hours, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Hei also billed health insurance providers more than $80,000 for office visits when he was out of the country, the U.S. attorney said. Panezai …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Mental Health Clinics Founded By Late Liberian Defendant Agree To Forfeit $6.4M, More NJ Mental Health Clinics Founded By Late Liberian Defendant Agree To Forfeit $6.4M, More
NJ Mental Health Clinics Founded By Late Liberian Defendant Agree To Forfeit $6.4M, More UPDATE: New Jersey authorities have legally seized $6.4 million and other assets from a chain of mental health clinics founded by a recently deceased Liberian presidential candidate for billing Medicaid for more than 10,000 bogus claims. Daniel E. Cassell, formerly of Perkasie, PA was under a 17-count state indictment when he died of an apparent heart attack at 56 years old on Christmas Day 2022. The West African-born Cassell -- who was a psychologist, business consultant and politician and founding member of Liberia's People Liberation Party -- was the president and chief executive officer…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
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,…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
TAPPIN' IT: Manager Admits Embezzling $4.5M From NJ Brain Injury Fund For Sex With Gal Pals TAPPIN' IT: Manager Admits Embezzling $4.5M From NJ Brain Injury Fund For Sex With Gal Pals
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…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Theft Of $8.2M In HIV Meds From NJ Vets Hospital Gets Rx Tech 2½ Years Without Parole Theft Of $8.2M In HIV Meds From NJ Vets Hospital Gets Rx Tech 2½ Years Without Parole
Theft Of $8.2M In HIV Meds From NJ Vets Hospital Gets Rx Tech 2½ Years Without Parole UPDATE: A former pharmacy tech was sentenced to a plea-bargained 57 months in federal prison Thursday for stealing $8.2 million worth of HIV medications from a New Jersey veterans hospital to sell on the black market, authorities said. Lisa M. Hoffman, 50, of Orange, will have to serve just about all of the term because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas also sentenced Hoffman on Thursday to three years of supervised release while ordering her to pay the full $8.29 million in restitution – and to forfeit an additional $450,000. Hoffman wa…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: Postal Supervisor In NJ Sold 400 Vax Cards That She Printed At Work Feds: Postal Supervisor In NJ Sold 400 Vax Cards That She Printed At Work
Feds: Postal Supervisor In NJ Sold 400 Vax Cards That She Printed At Work A U.S. Postal Service supervisor from New Jersey openly sold 400 bogus COVID vaccine cards that she printed at her job -- while claiming that a graphic design degree was "paying off" for her, federal authorities charged. Lisa Hammell, 39, of the South Jersey town of Turnersville, sold the cards for from $20 to $100 after advertising them on social media, an indictment returned by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Newark says. Two of the buyers were from New Jersey and another was a federal employee in Virginia whose mother needed the card because she worked in a hospital and had to be …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
GUILTY: Fort Lee Doc With Clifton Practice Convicted Of Multi-Million-Dollar Medicare Fraud GUILTY: Fort Lee Doc With Clifton Practice Convicted Of Multi-Million-Dollar Medicare Fraud
Guilty: Fort Lee Doc With Clifton Practice Convicted Of Multi-Million-Dollar Medicare Fraud A rheumatologist from Fort Lee was convicted of billing Medicare and other health insurance programs for nearly a decade for services that patients never got and expensive medication that her Clifton practice never bought, federal authorities said. Alice Chu, 64, went to trial in U.S. District Court in Newark after federal authorities accused her of submitting more than $8.8 million in bogus claims for "items and services that were medically unnecessary, ineligible for reimbursement, and/or not provided as represented," court papers show. Jurors found her guilty on Tuesday, March 8 of consp…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Ex-Physician Indicted For Illegally Prescribing Opioid Pills In South Jersey: Prosecutor Ex-Physician Indicted For Illegally Prescribing Opioid Pills In South Jersey: Prosecutor
Ex-Physician Indicted For Illegally Prescribing Opioid Pills In South Jersey: Prosecutor A former physician from South Jersey has been indicted for illegally prescribing highly-addictive opioid pills, authorities said. Morris “Moishe” Starkman, 62, of Yellowstone Road in Cinnaminson, has been indicted on 21 counts of narcotics distribution and fraud charges for the alleged activity out of his Bordentown Township practice, according to Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina. Starkman simultaneously engaged in an unlawful medical billing scheme over a three-year period, Coffina alleged. Starkman was indicted by a grand jury on 15 counts of distribution of a controlled d…

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by Jon Craig