Seven public hospital workers were busted today for taking bribes to provide data about car accident victims to two corrupt Bronx clinics that bilked insurance firms of more than $1 million, authorities said.
Also charged was William Hamel, 45, a personal injury lawyer, busted for allegedly bribing the employees to provide the same information so he could use it to solicit clients.
In announcing the arrests, state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said they “underscore the depth of this alleged criminal operation and the extent to which these individuals allegedly abused patient confidentiality and manipulated the system.”
“We are committed to hold the individual perpetrators accountable and rooting out this level of corruption to protect patients across New York,” he said.
Six of the seven arrested employees worked at Lincoln Hospital and the other worked at Jacobi Hospital.
Cuomo said the workers were bribed to provide information about victims of minor car accidents to Bronx Sheridan Medical and New Lite Bronx Medical, two clinics run by Daniel Levy, 32, of Rego Park, Queens.
Employees of the clinics would then lure the patients to the clinics, where they would be given unnecessary medical treatment, he said.
The clinics would then submit fraudulent claims to insurance companies, receiving more than $1 million in payments, he said.
In July, Levy and 11 others, including two Lincoln doctors and a personal injury lawyer, were busted in the scheme.
The seven hospital workers arrested were charged with third-degree bribe receiving, which carries a maximum penalty of 2 1/3 to 7 years behind bars.
They were identified as Pradhudial Balkaran, 46, of The Bronx, Franklin Martinez, 54, of Mamaroneck, Vanessa Marte, 26, of Manhattan, Natasha Samuels, 27, of The Bronx, Benito Figueroa, 50, of the Bronx, Odalis Caraballo, 56, of The Bronx and Kenton Wright, 49, of The Bronx.
Hamel, the lawyer, is also charged with third-degree bribery.
Marte, who is now a parole officer, was an hospital employee when the scheme unfolded, her lawyer said.
