PARSIPPANY — Two former associates of Parsippany based Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services were each sentenced to 21 months in prison for their roles in a test referral bribery scheme, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced. Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services was located at 181 New Road.
Cliff Antell, 43, of Rumson, and Craig Nordman, 39, of Whippany, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler to informations charging each with one count of conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Federal Travel Act and one count of money laundering. Judge Chesler imposed the sentences in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Nordman was a BLS employee and the CEO of Advantech Sales LLC – an entity used by BLS to make illegal payments. Antell was an associate who used an entity – Brown’s Dock Consulting – to disguise the bribe payments to doctors.
The investigation has resulted in 53 convictions – 38 of them doctors – 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. It is believed to be the largest number of medical professionals ever prosecuted in a bribery case. The investigation has recovered more than $15 million through forfeiture. On June 28, 2016, BLS, which is no longer operational, pleaded guilty and was required to forfeit all of its assets.
In addition to the prison terms, Judge Chesler sentenced Antell to three years of supervised release and fined him $10,000. Nordman was sentenced to one year of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie in Newark; inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Acting Inspector in Charge Judy Ramos; IRS–Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Bryant Jackson in Newark; and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert, with the ongoing investigation.
The government is represented by Senior Litigation Counsel Joseph N. Minish; Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Alfonzo Walsman, Co-Chief of the Public Protection Unit; Jacob T. Elberg, Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Health Care and Government Fraud Unit in Newark; and Senior Litigation Counsel Barbara Ward of the office’s Asset Recovery and Money Laundering Unit.
