Guilty plea in medical scam

By KRISTOFFER A. GARIN
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: March 8, 2002)

The apparent mastermind of a scam that robbed health-care insurers of more than $10 million pleaded guilty yesterday to fraud charges, the last of the five men charged in the scheme to do so.

Chiropractor Andrew Orlander, 42, of Chappaqua, was accused of an elaborate series of deceptions designed to squeeze profits out of the medical clinics he owned by billing insurance companies for procedures that were unnecessary, unlicensed or not carried out at all, and conspiring with personal injury lawyers to create bogus medical reports.

It began, federal prosecutors said, when the other prime defendant in the case, Dr. Mark Greenbaum, 46, of New Rochelle who pleaded guilty to similar charges this week began acting as a front man for Orlander to circumvent a state law that demanded medical facilities be owned by medical doctors.

"Orlander paid physicians, including Greenbaum, a salary to serve as the 'owner' of various practices on paper," James Comey, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a prepared statement yesterday. "Orlander then set up management companies which realized all of the profits from the practices, and through which Orlander controlled hiring decisions, purchases of various diagnostic and other devices as well as overall care."

That authority over operations at Physician Multicare facilities at 200 N. Central Ave. in Hartsdale, 46 Triangle Center in Yorktown Heights and Suite 103, Northside Plaza in Pomona all of which closed last year was not only illegal, said Comey, but was used to steal millions.

"The Orlander facilities allegedly billed for services that were never rendered, including diagnostic tests and 15-minute physical therapy services which in fact lasted as short as 35 seconds," Comey said. "In addition, the facilities allegedly billed for services rendered by unlicensed persons.

"The fraud also included misrepresenting the nature of the services being rendered and billing for services that were medically unnecessary," Comey said. "For example, it was alleged that patients were routinely referred for sonograms performed by individuals, who lacked adequate training, in such a manner as to provide little, if any, diagnostic value."

The mail fraud conspiracy charge, to which Orlander pleaded guilty yesterday along with a health-care fraud charge, stems from evidence gathered by undercover agents posing as personal injury lawyers that showed Orlander and other defendants agreeing to exaggerate the extent of patient injuries and necessary treatments.

"These false and misleading letters and reports were allegedly created so that attorneys could use them to their advantage in litigation against insurance companies and others," Comey said.

Orlander pleaded guilty to the felonies yesterday in U.S. District Court in White Plains.

In addition to Orlander and Greenbaum, Alexander Regalbuto, 34, of Harrison, a chiropractor who served as administrative director of the Hartsdale facility; Edmund Oliveros, 30, also of Harrison, a physical therapist who recruited and trained other therapists; and Mark Salvo, 27, of Yonkers, who handled public relations for the centers, all pleaded guilty to fraud charges between November 2001 and February.

At his sentencing on June 7, Orlander could face up to five years in federal prison on each of the two counts of fraud and a fine of at least $250,000. As part of their plea, Orlander and Greenbaum agreed to the forfeiture of about $3 million, Comey said.

Orlander's attorney did not return a late call for comment.