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TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal
Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced
that a New York physician was sentenced
today for defrauding insurance companies
of more than $2 million by submitting numerous
false Personal Injury Protection (PIP) auto
insurance claims.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Juan Carlos Fischberg, 59, of New
York City, was sentenced to three years
in state prison by Superior Court Judge
Patricia Del Bueno Cleary in Monmouth County.
He also was ordered to pay $2,126,243 in
restitution and a $50,000 civil insurance
fraud fine. Fischberg was sentenced pursuant
to his May 24 guilty plea to second-degree
health care claims fraud, a charge contained
in an Oct. 11, 2006 state grand jury indictment.
At
his guilty plea hearing, Fischberg, the
former owner and operator of Hudson Rehabilitation
and Medical Center in West New York, admitted
that he billed for electro-diagnostic services,
including nerve conduction velocity tests
that were not completed. Nerve conduction
velocity tests are sometimes used to diagnose
injuries to patients as the result of automobile
accidents. Most of the claims submitted
by Fischberg were submitted to automobile
insurance companies.
Investigators
from the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
seized and reviewed patient records for
more than 5,000 of Fischberg’s patients
and determined that Fischberg falsified
nerve conduction study results for his patients.
As
part of the investigation, OIFP seized Fischberg’s
office building in Jersey City and sold
it for $452,000. That money was forfeited
to the state along with approximately $64,000
contained in several bank accounts. The
Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor also
filed civil complaints for injunctive relief
in both New Jersey and Delaware courts to
stop Fischberg from transferring any money
from a family trust. As a result of all
of these efforts, it is anticipated that
the state and the insurance companies will
realize more than $2.5 million in restitution,
forfeited assets and fines.
State
Investigators Laura Parisi and Robyn Greene,
Civil Investigator Chris Gasbarro, and Deputy
Attorneys General Cheryl Maccaroni, Steven
Farman and Stephen Cirillo were assigned
to the investigation. They received extensive
assistance from the OIFP Analytical Support
Unit, and from the attorneys in the Division
of Law who prosecute medical licensing cases.
Maccaroni represented the Office of Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor at the sentencing.
“Doctors
who file false claims undermine the integrity
of the health care claims process,”
said Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Brown. “We
will thoroughly investigate licensed professionals
who are referred to the Office of Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor because of fraud, in order
to ensure that they are held responsible
for their crimes.”
This
case was referred to OIFP by the Special
Investigative Units of several insurance
companies which initially uncovered the
fraud and assisted OIFP in the investigation.
Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Brown thanks
the insurance companies for their involvement
in this matter.
Prosecutor
Brown noted that some important cases have
started with anonymous tips. People who
are concerned about insurance cheating and
have information about a fraud can report
it anonymously by calling the toll-free
hotline 1-877-55-FRAUD or
visiting the Web site www.NJInsuranceFraud.org.
State regulations permit an award to be
paid to an eligible person who provides
information that leads to an arrest, prosecution
and conviction for insurance fraud.
The
Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor was
established by the Automobile Insurance
Cost Reduction Act of 1998. The office is
the centralized state agency that investigates
and prosecutes both civil and criminal insurance
fraud, as well as Medicaid fraud.
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