A Rumson man controlled a slush fund of $800,000 used to bribe physicians in a scheme that netted more than $100 million in illegal income, federal authorities said Monday.
Cliff Antell, 38, no street address given, was one of seven people associated with Parsippany-based Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services who pleaded guilty to a kickback and money laundering scheme in federal District Court in Newark, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Paul Fishman said in a press release.
The scheme, in which doctors were bribed to steer blood-test clients to BLS, victimized Medicare as well as private healthcare insurers, Fishman said.
The guilty pleas came just two months after the FBI arrested BLS president and part owner, David Nicoll; Scott Nicoll, a senior BLS employee and David Nicolls brother; and Craig Nordman, a BLS employee and CEO of Advantech Sales LLC an entity used by BLS to make illegal payments.
Antell surrendered to the FBI Monday, along with three other defendants.
Also charged in April was Frank Santangelo, 43, of Boonton physician. Charges against Santangelo and BLS are pending.
The conspiracy made millions in illegal profits between 2006 and April of 2013, the feds alleged. During their guilty pleas, David and Scott Nicoll admitted that BLS made substantially more than $100 million from Medicare and private insurance companies just from bills related to blood specimens sent to BLS by bribed doctors.
Among the companies BLS used to bribe doctors was one called Browns Dock Consulting LLC, owned and operated by Antell and based in Red Bank and Rumson, according to court documents. Some $800,000 paid by BLS to Brown’s Dock was used to bribe physicians and support the scheme, Antell admitted.
Here’s the information, an alternative to an indictment, that Antell pleaded guilty to: Antell, Cliff Information
