News-At-A-Glance: New Jersey Lab Bribes for Referrals Scheme Nets 29th Defendant

Peter Deplas, M.D., of Glen Head, N.Y., admitted to taking bribes of more than $100,000 over a 17-month period from a New Jersey lab in return for referring patient tests to the laboratory, according to a July 15 Department of Justice announcement. Deplas is the 29th defendant in the case of the Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services LLC (BLS) massive bribery scheme and faces a potential five-year prison term and a $250,000 fine. Bribes were paid to Deplas in the form of a sham lease agreement in the amount of $5,000 a month and cash payments of as much as $7,000 a month. According to the announcement, BLS collected over $900,000 in reimbursements as a result of Deplas’s referrals. Deplas admitted to ordering unnecessary tests in order to justify the BLS bribes. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 29, but Deplas has already agreed to forfeit $120,000, which represents the amount of the bribes he received.