Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman and the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor (OIFP) announced today that an Egg Harbor Township neurologist was named in a four-count state grand jury indictment for accepting kickbacks in exchange for patient referrals, worth several thousand dollars, from six MRI facilities operated by a South Jersey medical imaging center services company.
Syed Jaffery, 54, of Egg Harbor Township, part-owner of Premier Neurology and Mask Realities corporation, was charged with second-degree health care claims fraud, second-degree commercial bribery, second-degree financial facilitation of criminal activity (money laundering) and third-degree running.
The indictment alleges that from 2010 to 2013, Jaffrey participated in a scheme by which he agreed to refer patients needing MRI and CT scans to Diagnostic Imaging Services of South Jersey in exchange for monetary kickbacks. Over the course of the scheme, Jaffrey allegedly accepted approximately $195,000. In an attempt to disguise the arrangement, the kickback checks were made payable to Jaffrey’s alleged shell company Mask Realities and purported to be for a rental space for billing services.
Second-degree crimes carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a criminal fine of up to $150,000, while third-degree crimes carry a sentence of three to five years in state prison and a criminal fine of up to $15,000.
People who are concerned about insurance cheating and have information about a fraud can report it anonymously by calling the toll-free hotline at 1-877-55-FRAUD, or visiting the Web site atwww.NJInsurancefraud.org.