Final Defendant, Bergen County Chiropractor, Charged In Insurance Fraud Scheme

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — A Park Ridge chiropractor has been charged as the final defendant in a multi-level insurance fraud network run by two South Jersey brothers.

Anthony Riotto, 44, operates Riotto Family Chiropractic. He was charged with third-degree health care claims fraud in connection with a criminal network reportedly run by Anhuar and Karim Bandy, Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino announced in a news release.

Riotto is the final defendant charged in a complex insurance fraud scheme where the Bandy brothers paid illegal "runners" to recruit car crash victims as patients for chiropractic facilities they controlled, then collected kickbacks for referring those victims for medical and legal services provided by others.

The other people involved included a doctor, lawyer, three licensed chiropractors, a paralegal and a licensed acupuncturist, Porrino said.

According to the allegations against him, Riotto caused several fraudulent claims to be submitted to five insurance carriers in connection with patients he referred to MLS Medical, a Park Ridge practice specializing in pain management, Porrino said.

Riotto allegedly received the patients for his chiropractic practice through the Bandy brothers’ network, then referred them to MLS Medical without disclosing to them that he had a financial interest in the practice, Porrino said. MLS Medical submitted insurance claims for those patients without disclosing to insurance carriers that the patients had been referred by a practitioner with financial interest in the practice.

Twelve defendants have pleaded guilty and been sentenced in the criminal enterprise exposed in the April 2014 indictment of Anhuar and Karim Bandy and 10 others. Five more individuals, including Riotto, were subsequently charged in connection with the scheme.

The runners were paid up to $1,000 for each patient that they recruited for medical treatment.

An investigation determined that the runners retrieved motor vehicle accident reports at local police stations, under the Open Public Records Act rules. They then visited the victims' homes to try and persuade them to utilize the services of the chiropractic facilities the Bandy brothers controlled, Porrino said.

The Bandy brothers pleaded guilty to second-degree insurance fraud. They were each sentenced earlier this year to six-and-a-half-year prison terms. They also were ordered to pay a $100,000 fine and $50,000 reimbursement to insurance companies that paid thousands of fraudulent claims over a four-year period.

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Photo: Anthony Riotto, 44/New Jersey Attorney General's Office