Monmouth County, New Jersey, Sales Representative Sentenced To One Year In Prison For Paying $25,000 In Cash Bribes For Patient Referrals

CAMDEN, N.J. – The owner of a marketing and sales company who admitted paying thousands of dollars in cash bribes to a New Jersey physician in return for patient referrals to his clients was sentenced today to 12 months and one day in prison, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. 

Daniel Gilman, 63, of Ocean Grove, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to pay kickbacks. Judge Rodriguez imposed the sentence today in Camden federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Gilman was a principle of Promed Practice Consultants LLC (Promed), a company specializing in marketing and sales services for testing laboratories. As identified in the information, “Company 1,” a blood testing laboratory, and “Company 2,” a DNA testing laboratory, were two of Promed’s clients. Gilman received monthly commission checks from Company 1 and Company 2 for referrals, which were equal to 10 percent of the reimbursements paid to the companies by various payers, including Medicare.

From March 2014 through May 2015, Gilman paid a physician, Vincent Destasio, 54, of Toms River, New Jersey, thousands of dollars in return for patient lab referrals to Company 1 and Company 2. After receiving the commission checks from Company 1 and Company 2, Gilman would identify Destasio’s patient referrals to those companies and pay him corresponding kickbacks in cash.

Neither Company 1 nor Company 2 had any knowledge of or involvement in the kickback scheme.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Rodriguez sentenced Gilman to two years of supervised release, fined him $1,000, and entered a forfeiture judgment of $25,000. Destasio pleaded guilty on June 23, 2016, to an indictment charging him with one count of conspiracy to accept cash bribes and is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 29, 2016.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney R. David Walk Jr. of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Health Care and Government Fraud Unit in Camden.

U.S. Attorney Fishman reorganized the health care fraud practice shortly after taking office, creating a stand-alone Health Care and Government Fraud Unit to handle both criminal and civil investigations and prosecutions of health care fraud offenses. Since 2010, the office has recovered more than $1.3 billion in health care fraud and government fraud settlements, judgments, fines, restitution and forfeiture under the False Claims Act, the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and other statutes.

Defense counsel: Vincent C. Scoca Esq., Bloomfield, New Jersey