2 more admit guilt in $100 million Parsippany medical fraud

A physician's assistant was sentenced to prison and a doctor admitted accepting bribes Tuesday in Newark Federal Court in a long-running and elaborate test-referral scheme operated by Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services of Parsippany, its president and several associates.

U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced that Leonard Marchetta, 49, of Staten Island, N.Y., a physician’s assistant who previously
pleaded guilty to one count of accepting bribes, was sentenced to 42 months in prison. Bret Ostrager, 50, of Woodbury, N.Y., a doctor practicing in Nassau County, N.Y., pleaded guilty to violating the Federal Anti-Kickback statute and the Federal Travel Act by accepting bribes, one substantive violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute and one substantive violation of the Federal Travel Act.

Marchetta and Ostrager are the latest of 39 defendants — 26 of them doctors — who have pleaded guilty in connection with the bribery scheme since the first indictments were leveled in 2013. The ongoing case is believed to be the largest number of medical professionals ever prosecuted in a bribery case in the United States. Authorities to date have recovered more than $12 million through forfeiture connected to the case.

Several organizers of the scheme, including BLS president David Nicoll of Mountain Lakes and his brother, Scott Nicoll of Wayne, previously admitted illegal activities that generated millions of dollars in bribes and resulted in more than $100 million in payments to BLS from Medicare and various private insurance companies.

David and Scott Nicoll are awaiting sentencing. There was no answer at the phone number listed for BLS in Parsippany. Authorities said Tuesday that they were unsure if the company was still operating in some manner, but that it stopped accepting specimens for testing on June 30, 2014.

Other Morris County residents who previously admitted roles in the scheme include Kevin Kerekes, 47, of Florham Park; Craig Nordman, 34, of Whippany; Franklin Dana Fortuna, 65, of Montville; Angelo Calabrese, 56, of Pine Brook; Paul Ostergaard, 72, of Pompton Plains and Wayne Lajewski, 51, a physician practicing in Madison.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, Marchetta previously admitted that he accepted bribes in return for referring patient blood specimens to BLS and was paid approximately $3,000 per month. Marchetta’s referrals generated approximately $660,000 in lab business for BLS.

Ostrager admitted that between February 2011 and April 2013, he received monthly cash bribes of approximately $3,300 from BLS employees and associates. He periodically solicited and received from the BLS employees and associates tickets and meals that cost thousands of dollars.

Those additional bribes in response to specific requests from Ostrager included tickets to a New York Mets baseball game, a New York Knicks basketball game, a Katy Perry concert, a Justin Bieber concert and the Broadway show “Newsies.”

In exchange, Ostrager referred patient blood samples to BLS that generated approximately $909,000 in business.

Each count to which Ostrager pleaded guilty carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. His sentencing is scheduled for March 29.

In addition to the prison term he received Tuesday, Marchetta must serve three years of supervised release and forfeit $72,000.

Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-917-9242; wwesthoven@GannettNJ.com.