WASHINGTON, July 11 (RIA Novosti) – Russian-speaking crime groups have expanded into the illegal painkiller trade in New Jersey, fueling an epidemic of abuse that is sweeping the state, according to a new report issued by a state investigative agency.
The report accuses physician Joseph Dituro of accepting a weekly $4,000 salary from Michael Lipton, a Russian with alleged ties to organized crime groups, to defraud Medicaid and Medicare of around $1.6 million between 2010 and 2011 by writing prescriptions for up to 25 patients a day in a New Jersey clinic.
Contacted by the New Jersey Star Ledger about the July report by the state’s commission of investigation, Lipkin denied the accusations.
“The government, they’re only looking for convictions,” the newspaper quoted Lipkin as saying. “The more convictions, the better for the lawyers. But they’re not the brightest people. I’m a businessman.”
Dituro is accused of operating a similar scam with Lev Natovich, identified in the report as a “Russian organized crime associate and convicted felon,” and with another man allegedly tied to Russian-speaking crime groups, Oleg Gorodetsky.
The investigation has been handed over to the state division of criminal justice, the Star Ledger reported.
