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Dr. Richard Goldberg, 60, of Weston, and Dr. Gary Leeds, 60, of Greenwich, each pleaded guilty Thursday before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler in federal court in Newark, N.J., to one count each of accepting bribes. The two have a joint practice, Family Medical Group of Manhattan.
The bribery count is punishable by a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing for both is scheduled for April 1. As part of their guilty pleas, Goldberg and Leeds also each agreed to forfeit $108,000.
The elaborate scheme was operated by Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services of Parsippany, N.J.; its president; and numerous associates, Fishman said.
Including Goldberg and Leeds, 20 people have now 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.
During the court proceedings, Goldberg and Leeds admitted to accepting thousands of dollars per month in cash from September 2010 to 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.
So far, 11 employees or associates of BLS and nine physicians have pleaded guilty to their roles in the bribery scheme. The investigation has recovered more than $6.5 million to date through forfeiture.
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