Essex County Man Sentenced for Health Care Fraud Scheme
Newark, N.J. – Brian Catanzarite, a 43-year-old former gym owner from Cedar Grove, New Jersey, was sentenced to 50 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to defraud New Jersey state benefit programs.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, Catanzarite admitted to conspiring to defraud New Jersey state benefit programs from March 2015 through January 2017. He was recruited by one of his former gym members to become a sales representative of a company that marketed compounded medications.
Catanzarite convinced state beneficiaries to obtain compounded medications regardless of their medical necessity. On several occasions, he even paid an advanced nurse practitioner, introduced to him by the marketing company, or used a telemedicine service that was paid for by the marketing company, to fraudulently obtain compounded medication prescriptions.
Catanzarite caused losses of at least $3.5 million and personally made over $1.1 million from the scheme. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge John Michael Vazquez sentenced Catanzarite to three years of supervised release and ordered restitution of $3.5 million.
U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI Newark Field Office and the U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing.
The government is represented in these cases by Assistant U.S. Attorney Erica Liu, Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Opioid Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Unit in Newark.
Catanzarite’s scheme was uncovered through a joint investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Criminal Investigative Service. The investigation revealed that Catanzarite used his sales representative position to steer prescriptions towards a particular compounding pharmacy, resulting in a significant financial loss to the state benefit programs.
Key Facts
- State: New Jersey
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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