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TRENTON
- Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw
announced that a Long Branch podiatrist
pleaded guilty today for billing Horizon
Blue Cross/Blue Shield more than $200,000
for medical services he never rendered.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Martin H. Weinstein, 52, of Long
Branch, pleaded guilty before Superior Court
Judge Francis P. DeStefano in Monmouth County
to second-degree health care claims fraud.
The charge was contained a Jan. 22, 2003
state grand jury indictment.
A
bench warrant was issued by Judge Michael
D. Farren when Weinstein failed to appear
at his Feb. 25, 2003 arraignment. In April
2007, at the request of the Office of Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor, Weinstein was arrested
by the U.S. Marshall’s Service in
the Dominican Republic. He was transported
to Miami, Florida where he waived extradition
and on May 24, 2007, was returned to New
Jersey.
At
the guilty plea hearing, Weinstein admitted
that between January 1998 and January 1999,
he fraudulently billed Horizon Blue Cross/Blue
Shield approximately $285,000 for podiatric
services he never rendered. He was paid
more than $200,000. By means of electronic
billing from his office, Weinstein submitted
the fraudulent claims to Horizon Blue Cross/Blue
Shield, and diverted the insurance claim
checks to a post office box that he rented.
Weinstein forged the patients’ names
on the back of the checks and deposited
them into his own account to steal the money.
State
Investigator Abraham Aquino, Civil Investigator
Michael Troso, and Deputy Attorney General
Steven B. Farman were assigned to the investigation.
Farman represented the Office of Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor at the guilty plea hearing.
Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield referred
the case to the Office of Insurance Fraud
Prosecutor for investigation.
Weinstein
is scheduled to appear before Judge DeStefano
on Sept. 28, 2007, to be sentenced. Crimes
of the second degree carry sentences of
up to 10 years in state prison, and a criminal
fine of up to $150,000. Weinstein may also
face civil insurance fraud fines.
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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