NJ Lawyer Pleads Guilty in Healthcare Fraud

A former New Jersey lawyer has pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit healthcare fraud in a bizarre case in which he demanded $1 million from the FBI after learning that an accident involved an agency vehicle.

Jeffrey Squitieri entered the plea in federal court in Manhattan Wednesday. The Englewood Cliffs man faces up to 10 years in prison at an Aug. 24 sentencing.

Authorities say Squitieri mailed a claim for $1 million to the FBI in June 2011 after learning one of its vehicles was listed on the accident report for a bogus claim he was making.

The FBI is self-insured. Squitieri was unaware the FBI had rented the vehicle for an undercover officer who posed as a car accident victim seeking unnecessary medical treatment at a Bronx clinic.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)