Frank Santangelo, Healthcare Fraud, New Jersey 2023
A New Jersey doctor has admitted to accepting $1.8 million in bribes for test referrals to a clinical laboratory, as part of a long-running scheme operated by the lab and its associates, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Frank Santangelo, 43, of Boonton, N.J., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler in Newark federal court to an information charging him with violating the Travel Act, money laundering and failing to file tax returns.
“Patients should be able to trust that their doctors are prescribing only tests that are necessary and are recommending providers who are best qualified to perform those tests,” U.S. Attorney Fishman said. “In pleading guilty today to the charges against him, Dr. Santangelo admitted he violated that trust. He committed the type of fraud that drives up the cost of health care and compromises patient care.”
The investigation of Dr. Santangelo is another sad story of a doctor putting his greed ahead of his oath of fidelity to his patients,” FBI New Jersey Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford said. “The plea today is a direct result of the joint efforts of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General, United States Postal Inspection Service, Internal Revenue Service, and Federal Bureau of Investigation, who remain committed to protecting the American public from those who would abuse the health care needs of innocent patients for their own financial gain.”
According to documents filed in this and other cases and statements made in court, Santangelo received more than $1.8 million in bribe payments from Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services LLC (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.
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.
Defendant: Frank Santangelo
Criminal Charges: Violating the Travel Act, money laundering and failing to file tax returns
City and State: Newark, New Jersey
Exact Date: April, 2013 (arrest date)
Sentence or Outcome: Pleaded guilty, awaiting sentencing
Dollar Amounts: $1.8 million in bribes, $6 million paid by Medicare and insurance companies, $800,000 received through sham agreements, $1 million in bribes through third party.
Key Facts
- State: New Jersey
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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