Teacher from Nutley pleads guilty to health care fraud

NEWARK, NJ — A public school teacher from Essex County has admitted his role in conspiring to defraud the N.J. School Employees’ Health Benefits Program with phony claims for medically unnecessary prescriptions, acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced Sept. 22.

Jason Nardachone, 51, of Nutley, who taught in the Lodi School District, pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge John Michael Vazquez to an indictment charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, Nardachone participated in a scheme to defraud the SEHBP by knowingly causing the billing of medically unnecessary compounded medications, such as metabolic vitamins, pain creams and scar creams, for himself and three other teachers. From September 2015 through February 2016, Nardachone and others received medically unnecessary compounded medications that cost the SEHBP various amounts of money, from $3,300 to $22,800 per medication. Nardachone bribed the three other teachers with monthly payments of $500 in exchange for their agreement to obtain compounded medications they did not need. The scheme resulted in losses to the SEHBP of more than $550,000.

The count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 1, 2022.

  Fraud, Health Care, U.S. Attorney’s Office