NYC Doctor Pleads Guilty in NJ Test Scheme

A New York City doctor has pleaded guilty in a long-running bribes-for-test referrals scheme involving a northern New Jersey firm.

Federal prosecutors in New Jersey say 46-year-old Demetrios Gabriel of Brooklyn pleaded guilty Friday to accepting bribes. He faces up to five years in prison and will forfeit $200,000, which prosecutors say represents the bribes he received from Parsippany-based Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services.

A pediatrician with offices in Staten Island and Brooklyn, admitted accepting more than $4,500 each month.

Prosecutors say 24 people — including 13 physicians — have now pleaded guilty in connection with the scheme.

They say the lab bribed doctors to refer patients and perform unnecessary tests, which resulted in more than $100 million in payments to BLS from Medicare and various private insurers.

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