Madison doctor gets prison for taking bribes
A doctor from Madison was sentenced Tuesday to prison for accepting bribes in exchange for test referrals as part of a long-running scheme operated by Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services of Parsippany.
Wayne Lajewski, 51, was sentenced along with Glenn Leslie, 60, of Ramsey, to 14 months and 24 months in prison, respectively. Lajewski and Leslie previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler to one count of accepting bribes.
Including Lajewski and Leslie, 37 people – 24 of them physicians – have pleaded guilty in connection with the bribery scheme, which its organizers have admitted involved millions of dollars in bribes and resulted in more than $100 million in payments to BLS from Medicare and various private insurance companies.
The investigation has to date recovered more than $10.5 million through forfeiture, according to a press release from U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.
According to documents filed in this and other cases and statements made in court:
Lajewski admitted he accepted cash bribes of $2,000 per month over two years in return for referring patient blood specimens to BLS, for which BLS received more than $850,000. Leslie admitted accepting $5,000 per month in return for referring patient blood specimens to BLS, for which BLS received $380,000.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Chesler sentenced both Lajewski and Leslie to one year of supervised release and fined them $10,000 each. As part of their guilty pleas, Lajewski must forfeit $48,000 and Leslie must forfeit $350,000.
Lajewski has continued to practice medicine, and it will be up to the state Board of Medical Examiners to decide if and how he can continue to do so.
The Board of Medical Examiners will contact Lajewski and his attorney to determine what, if any, disciplinary action should be taken by the board. If the two sides can't reach an agreement, the board will hold a disciplinary hearing.
No specific penalties are mandated, and discipline can include a license suspension or revocation, according to a spokesman for the board.