Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Empire built on other people's blood about to be put up for grabs
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2014/07/empire_built_on_other_peoples_blood_about_to_be_put_up_for_grabs_steelers_jets_eagles_tix_for_the_ta.html#incart_m-rpt-1
Empire built on other people's blood about to be put up for grabs
By Thomas Zambito | The Star-Ledger
on July 13, 2014 at 7:02 AM, updated July 13, 2014 at 9:58 AM
NEWARK — The vast empire David Nicoll built paying off doctors to send him other people’s blood is about to come crumbling down.
Newark federal prosecutors are poised to sell off the ill-gotten gains of a seven-year bribery scheme masterminded by Nicoll that netted more than $100 million and so far has snared 16 physicians, according to court records.
<>
Nicoll, 40, agreed to forfeit some $50 million in property and possessions when he pleaded guilty in June 2013 to bribing doctors while he led Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services in Parsippany from 2006 to 2012.
Through cash payouts and sweetheart lease deals, doctors agreed to have their patients’ blood specimens sent to BLS, which would bill Medicare and other private insurers for performing the tests, prosecutors say.
Revenues from BLS’ blood testing and other services surpassed $200 million between 2006 and 2012 after Nicoll took over in September 2005 – a 400 percent increase in annual revenue, they add.
Of that, more than $100 million came from referrals from physicians taking bribes, they say.
<>
Nicoll and several co-defendants aggressively courted doctors, urging them to order unnecessary tests for patients and badgering them with not-so-subtle reminders that the payoffs would stop if more patients weren’t sent their way, prosecutors say.
"Frank, I really can’t afford the 40-50,000 (dollars) a month if the girls aren’t going to be drawing any blood," Nicoll wrote in an August 2009 text to Dr. Frank Santangelo, according to the 2013 indictment.
"U no u can count on me!," Santangelo texted back, according to the indictment. "I never let u down!"
Santangelo, who has offices in Montville and Wayne, admitted in July 2013 that he accepted $1.8 million in bribes to refer millions of dollars in business to BLS, federal prosecutors say. His sentencing has been set for Oct. 24, 2013.
<>
Empire built on other people's blood about to be put up for grabs
By Thomas Zambito | The Star-Ledger
on July 13, 2014 at 7:02 AM, updated July 13, 2014 at 9:58 AM
NEWARK — The vast empire David Nicoll built paying off doctors to send him other people’s blood is about to come crumbling down.
Newark federal prosecutors are poised to sell off the ill-gotten gains of a seven-year bribery scheme masterminded by Nicoll that netted more than $100 million and so far has snared 16 physicians, according to court records.
<>
Nicoll, 40, agreed to forfeit some $50 million in property and possessions when he pleaded guilty in June 2013 to bribing doctors while he led Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services in Parsippany from 2006 to 2012.
Through cash payouts and sweetheart lease deals, doctors agreed to have their patients’ blood specimens sent to BLS, which would bill Medicare and other private insurers for performing the tests, prosecutors say.
Revenues from BLS’ blood testing and other services surpassed $200 million between 2006 and 2012 after Nicoll took over in September 2005 – a 400 percent increase in annual revenue, they add.
Of that, more than $100 million came from referrals from physicians taking bribes, they say.
<>
Nicoll and several co-defendants aggressively courted doctors, urging them to order unnecessary tests for patients and badgering them with not-so-subtle reminders that the payoffs would stop if more patients weren’t sent their way, prosecutors say.
"Frank, I really can’t afford the 40-50,000 (dollars) a month if the girls aren’t going to be drawing any blood," Nicoll wrote in an August 2009 text to Dr. Frank Santangelo, according to the 2013 indictment.
"U no u can count on me!," Santangelo texted back, according to the indictment. "I never let u down!"
Santangelo, who has offices in Montville and Wayne, admitted in July 2013 that he accepted $1.8 million in bribes to refer millions of dollars in business to BLS, federal prosecutors say. His sentencing has been set for Oct. 24, 2013.
<>