JERSEY CITY — The head of Hudson County’s Republican Party was arrested early this morning after cops say he was driving drunk in Downtown Jersey City, had trouble speaking and stumbled while getting out of his car, according to the Port Authority. Jose Arango, 57, of West New York, was driving westbound on 14th Street at…
Doctor Sentenced to 63 Months in Prison
PARSIPPANY — A Boonton doctor was sentenced to 63 months in prison for accepting $1.8 million in bribes to refer millions of dollars in business to Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services LLC (BLS), of Parsippany, as part of a long-running scheme operated by the lab, its president, and numerous associates, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Frank Santangelo, 45, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler to an information charging him with violating the Travel Act, money laundering and failing to file tax returns. Judge Chesler imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.
“Santangelo admitted he violated the trust of his patients, who should be able to count on their doctors’ prescribing only tests that are necessary and recommending providers based solely on their qualifications,” U.S. Attorney Fishman said. “This type of fraud compromises patient care and drives up the cost of health care.”
“Today’s sentencing of Frank Santangelo is the result of a long-term, multi-agency investigation into a complex health care fraud scheme which involved millions of dollars,” Richard M. Frankel, FBI Special Agent in Charge, Newark Division, said. “Santangelo’s arrest and sentencing send the message the FBI and its law enforcement partners will continue to zealously investigate these fraud and abuse schemes, which divert critical resources from of our already overburdened health care system and contribute exponentially to the rising cost of health care.”
Including Santangelo, 38 people – 26 of them doctors – 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.
According to documents filed in this and other cases and statements made in court:
Santangelo, with offices in Montville and Wayne received more than $1.8 million in bribe payments from BLS for referrals for which the lab was paid more than $6 million by Medicare and various insurance companies. After receiving more than $800,000 from BLS through sham lease agreements and sham service agreements between 2006 and 2010, Santangelo began receiving bribes from BLS through a third party – often tens of thousands of dollars a month – totaling more than $1 million between 2010 and his arrest in April 2013.
Santangelo acknowledged the authenticity of text messages between himself and BLS president and part owner David Nicoll in which Santangelo referred to ordering unnecessary tests to increase referrals to BLS in exchange for bribes. In one text message conversation, Santangelo said he and another doctor had “put our heads together and added a significant amount of testing…. The testing is 90 percent legit.” Santangelo detailed his plan to send $1 million per month in blood testing referrals to BLS by increasing the number of blood tests being ordered, including medically unnecessary tests.
In another text message conversation, David Nicoll wrote to Santangelo about the status of their referral agreement, stating that BLS “really can’t afford the 40-50,000 [dollars] a month if the girls aren’t going to be drawing any blood,” to which Santangelo responded by stating, “U no u can count on me!” and “I never let u down!”
He also pleaded guilty to money laundering, admitting that he used another individual in an attempt to hide the bribes from BLS, and to failing to file tax returns from 2009-2011 and pay taxes owed during that time period.
On April 9, 2013, federal agents arrested David Nicoll, 41, of Mountain Lakes; Scott Nicoll, 34, of Wayne, a senior BLS employee and David Nicoll’s brother; and Craig Nordman, 36, of Whippany, a BLS employee and the CEO of Advantech Sales LLC – an entity used by BLS to make illegal payments. They were charged by federal complaint with the bribery conspiracy, along with the BLS company and Santangelo. David and Scott Nicoll and Nordman are awaiting sentencing.
“Physicians who accept kickbacks in exchange for patient referrals and ordering medically unnecessary blood tests undermine the public’s faith in the medical profession and the financial stability of Medicare,” said Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. “OIG will continue to protect both taxpayers and patients by holding physicians accountable for such wrongdoing.”
In addition to the prison term, Judge Chesler sentenced Santangelo to three years of supervised release and fined him $6,250. Santangelo must also forfeit more than $1.8 million as part of his plea agreement. The investigation has so far recovered more than $11.5 million through forfeiture.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert; IRS–Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jonathan D. Larsen, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector in Charge Maria L. Kelokates, with the ongoing investigation leading to today’s sentencing.
The government is represented by Senior Litigation Counsel Andrew Leven, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Minish, and Jacob T. Elberg, Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Health Care and Government Fraud Unit in Newark, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara Ward of the office’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Unit.
U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman reorganized the health care fraud practice at the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office shortly after taking office, including creating a stand-alone Health Care and Government Fraud Unit to handle both criminal and civil investigations and prosecutions of health care fraud offenses. Since 2010, the office has recovered more than $635 million in health care fraud and government fraud settlements, judgments, fines, restitution and forfeiture under the False Claims Act, the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and other statutes.
Letter to the editor: Kirkbride Building has now been so thoroughly degraded
Dear Editor:
By now many of you have seen the Daily Record article (click here).
I regret to inform you that the CenterMain section of the Kirkbride Building has now been so thoroughly degraded that any hope for its re-use has been lost, and there will be no adaptive re-use of the Greystone Kirkbride Building whatsoever.
And so ends our mission of advocacy.
Once its days as a hospital ended, there was a golden opportunity to bring this treasure forward into contemporary relevance, and to define a positive new role for it in our community. Numerous examples exist of Kirkbride Buildings in other states (some of lower quality, and in far worse shape than our Greystone) that now serve as community centers, mixed use commercial/residential villages, and wildly popular tourist destinations. They were revitalized without any expenditure of taxpayer money.
But there will be no second act for our Kirkbride Building.
Nor third, nor fourth.
Greystone is public property, literally common ground. It has been an enormous presence in the community – for a long, long time. Answering the question of what to do with it is a conversation that should have taken place publicly. All stakeholders should have had the opportunity to voice their aspirations for this public heirloom, and to voice their concerns for how different adaptive re-uses might impact the community, now and for future generations.
Unfortunately, Greystone’s fate was deliberated behind closed doors, by an insular collection of public officials who will not account for their actions in this matter. No plausible explanation has been given for the decisions that were made. The silence of our local officials on this issue is deafening, and the story promulgated by the State – that it would cost too much to re-use the building – is nonsense. Numerous private firms came forward with the money and expertise to put the building to good use. But the State wouldn’t talk to them.
To say that these officials failed to manage our assets wisely, or even responsibly, is an understatement. They turned down over $100M in private investment, borrowed $50M, and actively destroyed an irreplaceable public heirloom that was built to last forever – an irretrievable loss for this generation and countless future ones, and an affront to the generation that built it.
I heartily commend the foresight and collaborative action being taken by all those working to rescue iconic pieces of the façade. It is sincerely hoped that these will indeed comprise part of a future memorial on the site. But a memorial, no matter how important, no matter how thoughtful or beautiful, cannot mitigate this fiscal, cultural and environmental disaster.
I want to thank you all for your attention, and commend you all once again for your active participation and support for good public policy. If you took the time to send a postcard, plant a lawnsign, attend a rally, call your legislator, or simply talked to your neighbors about Greystone, you were engaged in an important act of citizenship. If you demanded answers, you were sending a message. No matter the outcome, these actions are vitally important to the health of our democracy. Sunshine is the best disinfectant, and an informed, engaged, and vocal citizenry is the best antidote to bad government.
John Huebner
President, Preserve Greystone 501c3
Summit Housing Authority sued for public meeting and records violations
SUMMIT — The New Jersey Foundation for Open Government (NJFOG) on May 29 filed suit in Union County Superior Court against the Summit Housing Authority and its Custodian of Records alleging violations of the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) and Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA).
A hearing to address the OPRA counts in the case (Docket No. UNN-L-1927-15) is scheduled for Friday, July 10 at 10:00 a.m. before Judge James Hely, J.S.C. OPMA counts will be addressed at a later date.
The lawsuit is the latest installment of NJFOG’s “affirmative litigation” initiative, begun in 2014, intended to give teeth to the State’s open public meetings and records laws and to increase compliance by public agencies statewide.
“OPMA and OPRA violations are commonplace, unfortunately. Citizens are often hesitant to bring suit to enforce the law, especially for OPMA violations, because, until reform is passed by the Legislature, there’s no mandate requiring a court to award legal fees in an OPMA case. Few people can bear the financial burden of bringing a lawsuit, so there is a need for an organization like NJFOG to step in – to do what individuals can’t – in order to protect the rights of the public,” said NJFOG President Walter Luers.
The suit stems from an April 9, 2015 OPRA request filed by NJFOG Treasurer and Affirmative Litigation Committee member John Paff seeking the minutes of the Housing Authority’s three most recent non-public (closed or executive) session meetings, the motions or resolutions authorizing those three closed sessions, and motions or resolutions for any closed sessions held subsequently. (Note: Prior to excluding the public from a meeting, a public body must pass a written resolution or oral motion to enter into executive session.)
In a short response dated April 17, 2015 that included no records, Joseph M. Billy, Jr., Executive Director of the Housing Authority and its Records Custodian, stated that the Authority’s board motions and votes to enter executive session as needed but that no written resolutions are prepared. He went on to state, rather incredulously, that “minutes of executive sessions are not maintained and therefore are unavailable.”
NJFOG was able to find records from 2010, including 1) a written resolution to enter executive session on May 26, 2010, and 2) minutes for an executive session held on October 27, 2010.
What’s interesting is that this shows the agency kept minutes of their closed session meetings as recently as four or five years ago.
The Authority’s website includes another salient detail — minutes for the public portion of a meeting on September 17, 2014 show that the board entered into executive session at that meeting. No minutes exist for that closed session, apparently.
In its June 24 answer to the complaint, the Housing Authority states that Mr. Billy had interpreted Paff’s OPRA request to be only for records of meetings held since Billy became Executive Director on April 1, 2013.
Paff’s request was both clear and concise, however, and mentions no time frame.
While admitting it should have prepared minutes for its executive sessions and didn’t during Billy’s tenure as director, the Authority argues that it didn’t violate OPRA by not providing the records in response to Paff’s request because the statute doesn’t require a public agency to create records to fill an OPRA request.
NJFOG’s response to the Authority includes the following passage: “OPRA does not limit OPRA requests to the tenure or term of office of the Records Custodian. If the legislature meant for this to happen, it would be in the list of exceptions to OPRA. It would also go against public policy, as a public entity could change custodians frequently to avoid production of documents. In addition, Billy in his original response to…Paff fails to mention that the denial is only for his tenure, this appears to be a last minute argument that carries no weight.”
Alleged violations of the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) include use of executive session motions/resolutions that are not sufficiently detailed and failure to maintain meeting minutes for executive sessions.
NJFOG is the only non-profit organization in the state dedicated solely to improving New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA) and Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) and working to educate the public and increase governmental compliance with these laws.
All trading halted at New York Stock Exchange
Trading has been temporarily halted on all stocks on the New York Stock Exchange. The NYSE released the following statement on its status page: “NYSE/NYSE MKT has temporarily suspended trading in all symbols. Additional information will follow as soon as possible” RELATED: US stocks head lower as China fails to halt market slide The trading stopped…
Modera luxury apartments coming to Parsippany
PARSIPPANY — Parsippany’s inventory of apartments will soon be growing. Mill Creek Residential, a firm with over 15,000 rental units across the country plans to break ground later this year on Interpark Boulevard (behind the new Houlihan’s) to erect 212 luxury one and two bedroom rental units. The complex will be named Modera. Parsippany Focus visited Modera 44 in Morristown which recently opened. Modera 44 in Morristown and Modera in Parsippany will share many of the same amenities and will be similar in appearance.
At a prior Board of Adjustment meeting, several residents expressed concern that with 212 new apartments in Parsippany, the local schools may become over-crowded. Richard Murphy, a Managing Director with Mill Creek told Parsippany Focus that with 90% of the 268 total units now rented in Morristown, only one child currently attends the Morristown school district. Murphy expects few school age children at the Parsippany location as well.
Amenities at Modera 44 include:
- Garage parking
- Electric car charging stations
- Dog- and cat-friendly
- Pet spa
- Club-quality fitness studio with towel service
- Yoga studio
- Spinning room
- Cardio equipment with individual TVs
- Community bikes for residents to borrow
- Stunning clubhouse with multiple social zones
- Free wi-fi in social spaces
- Rooftop deck with outdoor kitchen and seating areas
- Resident lounge with flat screen TVs, bar seating and pool tables
- Business center and conference room
- Bike storage
- Individual full-size washer & dryer
- Key fob entry
- High ceilings
- Bright and light-filled spaces
- Well-equipped kitchens
- Quartz countertops
- Custom cabinetry
- Energy Star stainless appliances
- Dishwasher
- Microwave
- Refrigerator with ice maker
- Vinyl plank flooring
- Wall-to-wall carpeting in bedrooms
- Soaking tubs
- Walk-in closets*
- Private balcony or patio
- Wired for high-speed internet
- Programmable thermostats
- *some apartments
More information about Modera and Modera 44 can be found on their website at www.millcreekplaces.com
Driver attempts to “swat” bug and hits utility pole and tree
PARSIPPANY — Mr. Coby Lee, 22, Lake Hiawatha, was traveling east on Vail Road when he attempted to swat a bug away while driving and took his eyes off the road for a moment and struck a utility pole, then drove on the landscaping of a residence and ended by hitting a tree. This accident happen at 3:43 p.m. on Tuesday, July 7.
There were no injuries reported at the scene.
Parsippany-Troy Hills Police Officer Gian Cacioppo determined Mr. Lee was at fault for driver inattenative.
Mr. Lee was driving a 2004 Toyota Camry, which was towed from the scene by Eagle Towing.
The the time of this report, there were no summons issued.
Dovetail announces new solutions for centralized routing, repair and payments
PARSIPPANY — Dovetail, the provider of market leading payments and liquidity management solutions, announces today new intelligent routing, repair and enrichment solutions to extend its Smart Middle Office payment management suite, allowing banks to solve complex payment business challenges without entering into costly legacy renovation projects. Dovetail is located at 1515 Route 10.
Global electronic payment volumes are projected to more than double over the next decade. However, per transaction revenues are decreasing and, in an increasingly competitive market, banks are under pressure to drive up efficiency while at the same time differentiate by bringing new products to market faster, with better customer service. Although experts agree that investing in a single payments processing architecture is the best strategy to address these challenges, replacing legacy infrastructure takes time and may not be an option for some banks in the short term.
Fortunately, Dovetail offers a way forward. Dovetail’s intelligent routing, enrichment and repair solutions sit between a bank’s initiation channels and its legacy back office systems, serving as a centralized hub for payment processing. The plug-in architecture ensures that complex payment management requirements can be addressed without customizations. Straight-through processing is boosted by centralizing and consistently applying payment reference data and smart repair algorithms, and customer service responsiveness is enhanced by enabling operators to view and manage all payment activity in a single system, regardless of channel source or clearing destination. Most importantly, banks can deploy these solutions with minimal impact to existing infrastructure, reducing implementation effort and accelerating time to market.
Martin Coen, CEO of Dovetail, said, “Our clients are realizing significant business advantage by implementing our Smart Middle Office Solutions. One leading regional transaction bank reduced correspondent routing changes from months to days. With our Solution they replaced over a thousand hard-coded legacy system rules with under a hundred … all easily configurable through Dovetail’s intuitive user interface. Another was able to respond rapidly to the cross-border payment automation demands of the US Dodd-Frank law. Other clients significantly reduced customer service response times for payment inquiries. With the right solutions all banks are capable of realizing these types of benefit.”
About Dovetail
Dovetail provides market ready payments and liquidity management solutions that deliver business agility. These solutions enable banks to differentiate their payments offerings, optimize their liquidity and to provide their customers with a more consistent, efficient and effective payments experience. The solutions are scalable, up and down, across functional and volume needs and offer a high level of personalization. Significantly, they are also based on a single architecture that leverages common investment for the whole Dovetail community. Dovetail’s solutions, processes and people enable banks globally to achieve a measurable return on investment, cost control and regulatory compliance, while at the same time address legacy technology challenges.
Will ramps to I-287 get more lanes? Ask @CommutingLarry
The answer to one question about a road project is bound to prompt a query about work on a neighboring highway. That’s the case with a question about a ramp between I-80 and 287. Hit the turn signal, we’re taking the exit to the mailbag. Several readers asked how many lanes the ramps would be between…
Large pet adoption event to be held
EAST HANOVER — Mt. Pleasant Animal Shelter will be working in cooperation with PetSmart Charities for Petsmart’s Community Adoption Event during the weekend of July 24 through July 26.
On Saturday, July 25 and Sunday, July 26, they will be joining forces with St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center of Madison and the Associated Humane Societies of New Jersey from Newark to have a large adoption event in the PetSmart parking lot and hope to place at least 100 dogs and cats into loving homes over the course of three days. It’s a lofty goal but we know with your support we can achieve it!
Half off all adoption fees – normal conditions apply. Free Gifts for all adopters.
If you’re thinking about adding a pet to your family, come on by! Even if you’re not looking for a new pet you can still help – simply share this event with your friends to spread the word.
PetSmart is located at 190 Route 10 West.
On behalf of Stella and Humphrey, and the rest of their friends who are eagerly awaiting their forever homes, thank you!