A Middlesex County man pleaded guilty Monday to helping launder $3.6 million and delivering kickbacks to doctors.
Manoj Patharkar TRENTON -- A Middlesex County man pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring with a South Amboy physician to launder $3.6 million in earnings and deliver kickbacks to doctors, the Attorney General's Office announced.
Mohammed Shamshair, 52, of Sayreville, pleaded guilty to first-degree charges of conspiracy and money laundering, admitting he participated in a scheme to help the doctor, Manoj Patharkar, owner of Pain Management Associates of Central Jersey, avoid paying $327,000 in state taxes.
Patharkar faces charges of first-degree conspiracy, first-degree money laundering, second-degree theft by deception and third-degree counts of filing fraudulent tax returns and failure to pay taxes.
The two men were arrested in August, following an indictment alleging they had cheated the state out of taxes by creating 28 "phantom employees," using the names, Social Security numbers and other identifying information obtained from an accountant who was promised a share of the money, the Attorney General's Office said.
Patharkar allegedly issued at least 1,574 checks totaling $2.2 million made payable to his so-called employees to make the scheme appear legitimate.
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Earlier this year, the accountant, Irfan Raza, 45, of Valley Stream, N.Y., pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy for allegedly providing the personal information for the "phantom employees."
Shamshair also pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy to commit a commercial bribery in a second scheme, in which he admitted using $1.56 million of the laundered funds to pay "illegal cash kickbacks" to 12 doctors in exchange for referring patients to one of Patharkar's two pain management clinics. Shamshair acted on Patharkar's behalf, Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman said in a statement.
He participated in a similar arrangement with another man, Rehan Zuberi, delivering more than $200,000 in payments to 10 doctors in exchange for referrals to Zuberi's medical imagining center, the attorney general's office said.
"These crooked kickback schemes corrupt the healthcare system, leading to unnecessary medical services and ultimately higher healthcare and insurance costs for everyone," Hoffman said.
Under a plea deal, Shamshair faces eight-year concurrent prison sentences. His attorney could not be immediately reached for comment.
NJ Advance Media staff writer Susan K. Livio contributed to this report.
Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
