Bus Driver One of Several People Caught in Compounding Drug Fraud Investigation

Monday, July 2, 2018 | 0

A New York City bus driver was one of the key players in a wide-ranging compounded drug scheme that defrauded insurers of almost $3 million, federal authorities said Thursday.

Enver Kalaba, 36, of Old Bridge, New Jersey, pleaded guilty this week and could face up to 10 years in prison. His sentencing is set for Oct. 30, according to a local news report.

Prosecutors said Kalaba acted as a sales agent for a company that markets compounded medications, and he hawked compounded scar creams, pain creams and supplements that were medically unnecessary, the indictment shows.

He and another worker in 2016 and 2017 allegedly paid other New York Transit Authority employees cash bribes, as much as $100 per phony prescription. Kalaba referred the beneficiaries to telemedicine physicians who were paid by the compounded drug marketing company, a news release from the U.S. Attorney's office said. Those doctors almost always approved the prescriptions, prosecutors said.

The guilty plea is part of a nationwide health care fraud investigation that has led to the arrest of more than 600 people, including 165 doctors and nurses, totaling $2 billion in false billings. Federal authorities called Thursday "takedown day," because of the number of arrests and guilty pleas.

Also pleading guilty in New Jersey this week were: Robert Agresti, 61, a doctor in Essex Fells, New Jersey, and Brian Catanzarite, 42, of Cedar Grove, who owns a gym. The two were charged with obtaining phony compounded prescriptions on behalf of the companies that marketed the products.

Also, Tiffany Marsh, 40, a medical billing company owner from West Orange, and Keasam Johnson, 34, a telecommunications company worker from East Orange, were arrested this week and charged with collecting insurance reimbursement for chiropractic services that were never rendered.

The investigation is continuing and other pleas are expected later this summer, authorities said.