|
TRENTON
- Attorney General Stuart Rabner and Criminal
Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced
that the former owner of a Monmouth County
residential health care facility was sentenced
today for her role in a prescription kickback
scheme that netted more than $4,300 as a
result of directing residential health care
facility residents to fill prescriptions
at a Belmar pharmacy.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Shirley Welch, 59, of Freehold, was
ordered by Superior Court Judge Patricia
Del Bueno Cleary in Monmouth County to pay
more than $4,400 in fines and restitution.
The sentence followed Welch’s Oct.
16 guilty plea to theft by deception.
At
the guilty plea hearing, Welch, the former
owner and administrator of Pineland Rest
Home in Englishtown, admitted that between
Jan. 1, 2000 and Feb. 20, 2002, she illegally
accepted cash from the owner/operator of
the now defunct Belmar Hometown Pharmacy.
Welch received the kickbacks in exchange
for directing Pineland Rest Home residents
to fill their prescriptions at the pharmacy.
Prosecutor
Brown noted that the Belmar Hometown Pharmacy,
formerly located on Main Street, Belmar,
was owned by Michael Stavitski, who was
prosecuted by the Office of Insurance Fraud
Prosecutor - Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Stavitski pleaded guilty to health care
claims fraud and was sentenced on June 18,
2004 to seven years in state prison. He
was ordered to pay $1.1 million in restitution
and penalties.
State
Investigator Anthony Iannice and Deputy
Attorney General Sherry Wilson coordinated
the investigation. Wilson represented the
Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor at
the sentencing.
#
# #
|
