Indictment: Katy Perry, Justin Bieber Tickets Used to Bribe Doc in Parsippany Lab Kickback Scheme

The first indictment of a practicing doctor in a years-long kickback scheme centered around a Parsippany blood laboratory has been handed up, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman announced.

Bret Ostrager, 50, of Woodbury, New York was charged with one count of conspiring to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Federal Travel Act, three violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, and four substantive violations of the Federal Travel Act.

Ostrager is charged with accepting bribes in the form of concert tickets for performers such as Katy Perry and Justin Bieber, along with Broadway show tickets and sporting events, in return for referrals to Parsippany’s Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services, Fishman said.

Ostrager allegedly received monthly cash bribes of approximately $3,300 from the lab’s employees and associates, the indictment said. Ostrager allegedly made specific requests of BLS for meals and tickets that cost “thousands of dollars,” the indictment said.

Ostrager’s two years of alleged involvement in the scheme generated approximately $909,000 in business for BLS.

A total of 38 people have pleaded guilty in the years-long scheme, but Ostrager is the first doctor to be indicted. The scheme resulted in more than $100 million in payments to BLS from Medicare and private insurance companies. So far the investigation has recovered more than $11.5 million through forfeiture.

Ostrager is next due in court Aug. 19 for his arraignment.