Regional Briefs – September 16, 2019

4 Accused of $99 Million Pharmacy Fraud Scheme

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – Four people who owned or worked at pharmacies in New Jersey and New York City bribed doctors to send them prescriptions and received millions of dollars in reimbursements for medications they didn’t send to patients or even have in stock, an indictment released Monday alleged.

The $99 million scam began in 2009, the U.S. attorney’s office asserted.

The defendants are charged with crimes including health care fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy. Wire fraud is punishable by a maximum 20-year prison sentence, and health care fraud carries a 10-year maximum sentence.

Fisherman Dies After Fall, Hit Head on Jetty Rocks

MANASQUAN, N.J. (AP) – A fisherman from Canada has died after he slipped and fell on the Manasquan Inlet jetty.

Mayor Ed Donovan tells the Asbury Park Press Jooha Lee was at the tip of the jetty’s rocks on Sunday afternoon when he slipped and hit his head. The mayor says Lee’s two sons tried to rescue him.

Emergency crews removed Lee from the rocks. He was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

JP Morgan Traders Face Charges On Manipulating Market

NEW YORK (AP) – Three people — including a trader who ran JPMorgan’s global precious metals desk — were charged Monday with manipulating the precious metals futures market, the Justice Department said.

The indictment alleges the traders were involved in a racketeering conspiracy that prosecutors say spanned eight years and involved thousands of transactions.

Those charged include Michael Nowak, 45, of Montclair, New Jersey, who ran the global precious metals desk, Gregg Smith, a 55-year-old JPMorgan trader living in Scarsdale, and Christopher Jordan, 47, of Mountainside, New Jersey, who left JPMorgan in 2009.

NY Lawmakers to Look At Expanding Access to Rural Broadband

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – A group of New York state lawmakers are gathering in Albany to look at ways to expand access to broadband internet access in rural and remote parts of the state.

The Legislature’s Joint Commission on Rural Resources and the Assembly Standing Committee on Local Governments plan to meet Tuesday for a public hearing focused on rural broadband.