Morris County Physician Admits Taking Bribes in Test Referrals Scheme with New Jersey Clinical Lab

Twenty-Sixth Defendant to Plead Guilty in Connection with Scheme

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2014-04-10

A physician with a practice in Madison, New Jersey admitted to accepting bribes of $2,000 per month in exchange for test referrals as part of a long-running scheme operated by Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services LLC (BLS) of Parsippany, New Jersey; its president; and numerous associates, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Wayne Lajewski, 51, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler in Newark federal court to an information charging him with one count of accepting bribes.

Lajewski admitted he accepted bribes of $2,000 cash per month over two years in return for referring patient blood specimens to BLS, for which BLS received more than $850,000.

The bribery count to which Lajewski pleaded guilty carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for July 8, 2014. As part of his guilty plea, Lajewski agreed to forfeit $48,000, representing the bribes he received from BLS.

Including Lajewski, 26 people—including 15 physicians—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.

The investigation has recovered more than $7 million to date through forfeiture.

Source: U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation

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