Tag Archives: Trenton

Owner of Hudson County Medical Equipment Supply Store Pleads Guilty To $100,000 from Medicaid Fraud Scam

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TRENTON –Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino and the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor (OIFP) announced today that the owner of a Hudson County medical equipment supply store has pleaded guilty to fraudulently billing the Medicaid program more than $100,000 for medical supplies never provided to patients.

Alfredo Valdes, Jr., who owns T-N-T medical supplies in West New York, pleaded guilty to second-degree charges of health care claims fraud and theft by deception in a hearing before Superior Court Judge Mitzy Galis-Menendez in Hudson County. Under the terms of the plea agreement, the State will recommend that the 42-year-old Clifton resident be sentenced to four years in state prison. Valdes will also pay $101,000 in restitution to Horizon New Jersey Health, and sign a consent order agreeing to lifetime disbarment from participation as a provider in the New Jersey Medicaid program.

“Stealing from a program that provides financial assistance to those who cannot afford health insurance or health care services is not only a crime, it’s a disgrace,” said Attorney General Porrino. “This guilty plea ensures that the defendant will be held accountable for his actions and will never again be in a position to divert resources from those who truly need it.”

“Every dollar lost to Medicaid fraud is one less dollar available to help some of the most vulnerable citizens of our state,” said Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Christopher Iu. “Our Medicaid Fraud Control Unit will continue to aggressively investigate and punish those exploit the Medicaid system for their personal enrichment.”

In pleading guilty, Valdes admitted that between January 2008 and March 2016 he fraudulently submitted claims totaling more than $100,000 to Horizon NJ Health, a provider of Medicaid services in the state. The claims falsely stated that Valdes had distributed durable medical equipment – including compression stockings, diapers and other items – to patients who, in fact, had died prior to the dates of the purported distributions.

Valdes is scheduled to be sentenced on January 5, 2018.

Deputy Attorney General Melissa Simsen represented the State in the plea hearing. Detectives Anthony Iannice and Kylie Mattis coordinated the investigation with assistance from Det. Megan Brennan of the Special Investigation Unit at Horizon New Jersey Health, and Analysts Keira McRae-Wiggins and Kelly Celenza. Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Iu thanked the SIU Unit at Horizon for referring the matter to the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor.

John Lynch, Esq. represented Valdes at the plea hearing.

Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Iu noted that some important cases have started with anonymous tips. People who are concerned about insurance cheating and have information about a fraud can report it anonymously by calling the toll-free hotline at 1-877-55-FRAUD, or visiting the Web site at www.NJInsurancefraud.org. State regulations permit a reward to be paid to an eligible person who provides information that leads to an arrest, prosecution and conviction for insurance fraud.

Follow the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office online at Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & YouTube. The social media links provided are for reference only. The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office does not endorse any non-governmental websites, companies or applications.

Essex County Pediatrician Sentenced to Prison for Medicaid Fraud

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TRENTON – Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino and the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor announced today that an Essex County pediatrician has been sentenced to three years in state prison for submitting fraudulent claims to the Medicaid Program through which she falsely billed for working 24 hours or more a day.

Ibilola Ighama-Amegor, 55, whose Quality Pediatrix practice is located in Newark, must also pay $216,000 in restitution under a sentence handed down by Superior Court Judge Michael Petrolle in Newark on Friday.

Following a five-week jury trial in June, a jury found Amegor guilty of 48 counts of health care claims fraud and one count of Medicaid fraud, all in the third degree. Amegor was acquitted of second-degree theft by deception.

Deputy Attorneys General Crystal Callahan and Dennis Kwasnik tried the case for the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

“Dr. Amegor used her medical degree as a license to steal from a program that pays for medical care for the elderly and those who can’t afford health insurance,” said Attorney General Porrino. “She doesn’t belong in the medical profession, she belongs in prison, which is right where she’s going.”

“Doctors who file false insurance claims undermine the integrity of a system that depends on the trustworthiness of licensed professionals,” said Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Christopher Iu. “Dr. Amegor’s sentence sends a powerful message that medical professionals who commit insurance fraud will be held accountable for their greed.”

At trial, the state presented testimony that Amegor submitted bills for 24 hours or more of work on 48 dates of service between April 30, 2008 and May 16, 2011. An investigation by the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor determined that Amegor’s practice was only open for approximately eight hours per day, three days a week.

Deputy Attorneys General Callahan and Kwasnik were assisted at trial by Detectives Janet Amberg and Janet Thai. Detective Kylie Mattis, analyst Elizabeth O’Brien, Detective Ron Allen, Detective Laura Parisi, and Senior Management Assistant B’leia Williams all testified at trial. The investigation was coordinated by Detectives Kylie Mattis and Laura Catizone, and analyst Elizabeth O’Brien. Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Christopher Iu thanked the Medicaid Fraud Division within the State Comptroller’s Office and the Special Investigations Unit at Anthem (formerly Amerigroup) for referring the matter to the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor.

Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Iu noted that some important cases have started with anonymous tips. People who are concerned about insurance cheating and have information about a fraud can report it anonymously by calling the toll-free hotline at 1-877-55-FRAUD, or visiting the Web site at www.NJInsurancefraud.org. State regulations permit a reward to be paid to an eligible person who provides information that leads to an arrest, prosecution and conviction for insurance fraud.

Follow the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office online at Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & YouTube. The social media links provided are for reference only. The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office does not endorse any non-governmental websites, companies or applications.

Employee Of New Jersey-Based Trucking Company Gets 33 Months In Prison For Stealing More Than $3 Million From Her Employer

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Monday, July 24, 2017

TRENTON, N.J. – A former employee of a New Jersey based-trucking company was sentenced today to 33 months in prison for stealing more than $3 million by issuing company checks for her own benefit, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.

Tracey Perrigan, 55, of Sparta, Tennessee, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan to Count One of an indictment charging her with wire fraud. Judge Sheridan imposed the sentence today in Trenton federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Perrigan was an employee of a company identified in the indictment as “Company A,” the corporate parent of several subsidiary trucking, rigging, and transportation companies. Company A was headquartered in Oceanside, New York, and had a Branchburg, New Jersey, facility where Perrigan worked.

Company A used the “Comchek” system, which enables clients to authorize and monitor fuel and repair expenditures by drivers in remote locations. As part of her duties, Perrigan was responsible for authorizing Comcheks drawn on Company A’s bank account. From March 2007 through August 2015, Perrigan diverted $3.25 million from her employer to an entity identified as “Company B,” a trucking and towing company based in Tennessee that she owned with another person. Company B never conducted any business with Company A.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Sheridan sentenced Perrigan to three years of supervised release. Perrigan must also pay restitution of $3,251,419.65.

Acting U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher in Newark, with the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason S. Gould of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.

Defense counsel: Carol Gillen Esq., Assistant Federal Public Defender, Newark

Former Employee Of Commercial Supply Company Admits Fraud, False Testimony Before Grand Jury

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Monday, July 24, 2017

TRENTON, N.J. – A former salesman at Bayway Lumber, a Linden, New Jersey, company that sold commercial and industrial products to numerous public and private entities, today admitted his role in a scheme to defraud customers and lying to a federal grand jury, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.

Adam Martignetti, 43, of South River, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan in Trenton federal court to Counts 1 and 6 of an indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and making false declarations before a grand jury.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Martignetti admitted that from 2011 through 2013 he conspired with others to defraud certain Bayway Lumber customers by providing free items to customers’ employees and then recouping the cost of the items (plus additional revenue for Bayway Lumber) by overbilling and fraudulently billing the customers. Martignetti also admitted to supplying lower-quality, less expensive plywood to a customer, but charging for the more expensive, higher-quality plywood the customer had ordered.

Martignetti gave a variety of personal items to employees of some of Bayway Lumber’s customers, including Amtrak, the City of Elizabeth, and the Plainfield Board of Education.  These items included a laptop, several iPads, a camera and sound system, patio furniture, and other merchandise. Under the supervision of Robert Dattilo, president and partial owner of Bayway Lumber, Martignetti then overbilled and fraudulently billed those customers. Dattilo kept a running tally of how much Martignetti and others overbilled and fraudulently billed customers, which many at Bayway Lumber referred to as the “Bank,” to ensure that Bayway Lumber recovered the full cost of the free items. Dattilo previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and was sentenced in July 2016 to 48 months in prison and ordered to pay $708,386 in restitution.

Martignetti also conspired to provide one Bayway Lumber customer, Consolidated Edison Co. of New York Inc. (Con Edison), with lower-quality wood than it ordered and paid for. When Con Edison ordered graded plywood, a type of plywood graded by mills that had met a certain set of specifications, Martignetti, at Dattilo’s instruction, routinely sent plywood that was of a lower grade or not graded at all, including “reject” plywood, but charged Con Edison for the higher-quality plywood that it ordered.

Martignetti also pleaded guilty to falsely testifying before a federal grand jury while appearing as a witness under oath in March 2013 that he had never given Bayway Lumber items to City of Elizabeth employees for free, and that Elizabeth was never charged for items that were for Elizabeth employees’ personal use.

The conspiracy to commit wire fraud charge to which Martignetti pleaded guilty carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The charge of knowingly making false statements before a grand jury guilty carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss associated with the offense, whichever is greatest. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 28, 2017.

Acting U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick credited special agents with the Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Christina Scaringi; the Office of Inspector General, Amtrak, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael Waters; and the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cari Fais of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara R. Llanes, Chief, General Crimes Unit, of the U.S. Attorney’s Criminal Division, in Newark.

Defense Counsel: Michael Armstrong Esq., Willingboro, New Jersey