Angelo Calabrese, Taking Bribes, New Jersey 2023

A New Jersey doctor has been sentenced to 37 months in prison for taking bribes in exchange for test referrals as part of a long-running scheme operated by Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services LLC.

Angelo Calabrese, 57, of Pine Brook, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty to an information charging him with one count of accepting bribes. U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Chesler sentenced Calabrese to serve one year of supervised release and ordered him to pay a fine of $5,000. As part of his guilty plea, Calabrese must forfeit $334,000.

The bribery scheme, operated by BLS and its president, 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.

Calabrese admitted accepting more than $130,000 in bribes to refer at least $600,000 in lab business to BLS. From 2010 through 2013, Calabrese received over $4,500 per month from BLS through sham consulting and rental agreements.

The investigation into the bribery scheme was led by the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert, and inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector in Charge Maria L. Kelokates.

U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman credited the ongoing investigation leading to today’s sentencing. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph N. Minish, Senior Litigation Counsel Andrew Leven, 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.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/new-jersey-doctor-sentenced-over-three-years-prison-taking-bribes-test-referrals-scheme