NEW YORK — A Tampa, Florida, man has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges that he conspired to receive kickbacks and bribes in exchange for referrals for patient DNA samples and genetic tests, the US Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey said on Thursday.
Jeffrey Tamulski pleaded guilty in US District Court for the District of New Jersey. He and five co-defendants were charged in September 2019 in connection to the conspiracy and a related healthcare fraud scheme.
According to the attorney's office, Tamulski recruited outside marketing groups, such as Ark Laboratory Network, which was owned by his co-conspirators, to refer patients' DNA samples for genetic testing. The conspirators reached kickback agreements with labs to pay Ark bribes in exchange for DNA samples and orders for genetic tests. Ark issued "sham invoices" to labs to hide the kickback deals, resulting in Medicare paying $4.6 million to labs between January 2018 and January 2019 related to the fraudulent scheme, while the labs paid Ark at least $1.8 million in bribes, the attorney's office said.
Tamulski faces a maximum of five years of prison time for the charge to which he pleaded guilty and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greater. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 6, 2024.
Tamulski's codefendants are Kacey Plaisance, Kyle McLean, Edward Kostishion, and Jeremy Richey. They previously pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Additionally, Matthew Ellis was charged with a related scheme and his case is pending.