Yet another physician has been sentenced in connection with the Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services LLC (Parsippany, NJ) case. Franklin Dana Fortunato of Montville, NJ was sentenced to 14 months in prison with a year supervised release and a $75,000 fine and $635,000 forfeiture. He previously had admitted accepting bribes in exchange for referral of blood specimens and pleaded guilty to violating the federal Travel Act and filing a false tax return. The government alleged Fortunato received more than $100,000 in bribes through sham lease and service agreements—in some months receiving more than $5,000 in payments. Fortunato admitted he didn’t declare the bribes as income. The government also said he didn’t report $540,000 gained from patient co-pays and other payments from other health care providers and failed to pay $160,000 in taxes for the undeclared income. So far, 38 individuals—including 26 physicians—have pleaded guilty in cases involving Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services. In a separate matter, the owner of another New Jersey diagnostic testing facility, Vijay Patel, was sentenced to 12 months in prison for submitting Medicare claims for diagnostic testing services that a cardiologist had performed. As we reported in the January 12, 2015 issue of National Intelligence Report, Patel pleaded guilty to…
