Greenwich Doctor Gets Jail Sentence in Bribe Scheme

Two Connecticut doctors — one from Greenwich and one from Weston — who shared a practice in New York were each sentenced Tuesday to 20 months in prison for accepting bribes in exchange for test referrals as part of a long-running and elaborate scheme that federal officials say involved millions of dollars.

The doctors were involved with Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services LLC (BLS) in Parsippany, NJ, are among 8 people – 26 of them doctors – who 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, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said Tuesday.

The investigation has so far recovered more than $11 million to date through forfeiture.

Richard Goldberg, 65, of Weston, and Gary Leeds, 61, of Greenwich, each had pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler to one count of accepting bribes. Chesler imposed both sentences Tuesday in Newark federal court.

With Goldberg and Leeds, so far 38 people – 26 of them doctors – 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 $11 million to date through forfeiture, according to the U.S Attorney’s office.

According to documents filed in this and related cases and statements made in court:

Goldberg and Leeds admitted to accepting thousands of dollars per month in cash between September 2010 and April 2013 in return for referring patient blood specimens to BLS. The pair acknowledged they each accepted more than $100,000 in cash from BLS in exchange for referring at least a combined $1.8 million in lab business from their joint practice, Family Medical Group of Manhattan.

In addition to the prison terms, Chesler sentenced Goldberg to serve three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay a $5,000 fine. Leeds was also sentenced to one year of supervised release and ordered to pay a $15,000 fine. Goldberg and Leeds must each forfeit $108,000.

Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert; IRS–2 Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jonathan D. Larsen; and inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector in Charge Maria L. Kelokates, with the ongoing investigation.