Verdict Reached In Wayne Bryant Case: UPDATE: Guilty On All Counts

In yet another New Jersey corruption case, Democrat Wayne Bryant stands accused of bribery and fraud in connection with steering grants and having a no-show job at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). The jury has come back with a verdict, which will be announced shortly.

UPDATE:
The AP decides to play name that party with Bryant's political affiliation in the report on the verdict having been reached. Nice.

The jury had been deliberating since Friday.

UPDATE:
Guilty on all counts.

Investigating UMDNJ Again For Medicare and Medicaid Fraud

The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey already has a federal monitor overseeing the hospital and medical school because of pervasive fraud and graft, and yet the problems remain. Subpoenas have been issued:

The U.S. attorney opened another investigation into the state's medical university Monday, following allegations the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey overcharged Medicaid and Medicare by millions of dollars -- even while under the supervision of a federal monitor.

Three subpoenas were served on the state institution shortly after 4 p.m. One sought documents, while the others summoned university president William F. Owen and executive vice president Denise V. Rodgers to testify before a grand jury, according to two people familiar with the investigation who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.

UMDNJ has repeatedly come under investigation for shady practices, including feather bedding. The current problem stems from the possible overcharging of Medicare and Medicaid to the tune of $21 million a year.

Yet Another UMDNJ Scandal

This time, it is a hazing scandal involving KKK stylings.

Officials are still investigating the incident -- first reported Friday by The Star-Ledger -- which involves at least three paramedics who were fired this past week over the photos. The images show the alleged hazing last Sunday of two Northeastern University students on a clinical rotation with EMS crews in Newark.

In one photo released by the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, which operates the hospital and its EMS department, two students are draped in white sheets resembling robes of the Klan. A University Hospital paramedic is adjusting the sheet of one student while the other holds a wooden cross assembled with surgical tape and gauze. None of those involved was a person of color.

UMDNJ president William F. Owen, who disclosed details of the incident on Friday, said investigators who have talked with other paramedics believe the incident was sparked by a racist video downloaded from the website YouTube. He said the students were apparently pressured to participate. They immediately left the campus and returned to the Boston university, Northeastern officials said.

The state medical university said it has been in contact with law enforcement officials, but UMDNJ general counsel Lester Aron yesterday questioned whether the incident could be viewed as a bias crime because it was not directed at anyone.

Prior scandals have included no-show jobs, federal monitors resulting from Medicare fraud, and yet the school plods on.

So far, three people related to the incident have been fired. That's a good start.

Wayne Bryant Expects Indictment

State Sen. Wayne Bryant is expecting to be indicted today, his attorney said only moments ago.

Speaking at a forum in New Brunswick, prominent South Jersey defense attorney Carl Poplar said he expects a federal grand jury to return an indictment, but declined to comment further.

The U.S. Attorney's office earlier today issued an advisory saying only that a "significant announcement" relating to a "high level public official" was likely this afternoon.

Officials there would not comment.

New Jersey and corruption. Perfect together.

UPDATE:
The indictment has been handed down. Bryant, one of the most powerful political figures in Trenton, was indicted on charges of corruption and fraud. He wasn't alone in the indictment:

State Sen. Wayne Bryant was indicted by a federal grand jury in Trenton today on federal charges of corruption and fraud.

The influential Camden County Democrat was charged with using his position as a state senator to funnel millions of dollars in public funds to the state's medical university, after he was essentially given an no-show job to pad his pension.

He was also charged with defrauding the state's pension system.

Indicted with Bryant was a former dean at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, who helped put Bryant on the UMDNJ payroll in 2003 after Bryant helped lobby for his appointment as dean.

R. Michael Gallagher, who headed UMDNJ's School of Osteopathic Medicine in Stratford, was reportedly looking to take advantage of Bryant's his political clout in an effort to obtain more state funding.

UMDNJ is an ongoing mess of corruption and just hired a new President who is charged with cleaning it up. Good luck in that mess as there's a pervasive culture of corruption extending from Trenton all the way through the school.

UPDATE:
Here's a copy of the 40 page indictment. It's a doozy. Among the lovely tidbits, we learn that Bryant supplemented his $49,000 salary. By nearly $600,000 per year for each of the years in question. That's right. He found a way to boost his salary to $649,000 through various schemes that come out of taxpayers' pockets, including a no-show job at UMDNJ.

The indictment is also interesting in that there is room for still others to be indicted. For example, on page 7, it notes that Bryant and Gallagher and others knowingly and willingly devised a scheme to defraud the state. I'd expect more indictments to be handed down as the investigation and legal process progresses.

The Latest UMDNJ Scandal

A new cheating scandal has hit the state's dental school, this time involving an elaborate scheme by students to secretly memorize test questions and distribute the answers.

At least four students at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey are facing dismissal and four others could be suspended for the remainder of the year or receive letters of reprimand, a school official said.

It is the second major cheating incident at UMDNJ's New Jersey Dental School in less than a year. Nearly a quarter of last year's graduating class was forced to perform up to a year of community service, and one student was denied a diploma, after the students were caught trading credits for clinical procedures they never performed.

The students take after the administrators, who are just as likely to be double dipping or engaging in no-show jobs or other corrupt and criminal acts as they are to be giving proper instruction.

Tax Tips For Corrupt Politicians

With tax season upon us, Texas Rainmaker posted a thoughtful reminder for politicians like William Jefferson. If you've received a bribe, it must be included as income on your 1040. The same goes for illegal income and kickbacks.

Campaign contributions are generally not considered income unless they are diverted to his or her personal use.

Among those who might need to consider the tax implications of their corrupt deeds: Bob Menendez, anyone involved with UMDNJ, most New Jersey politicians, and the NYC delegation to Albany.

UPDATE:
Indicted Bronx state Sen. Efrain Gonzalez Jr., (D) has stepped down from his leadership post in response to the growing corruption investigation into his activities. If I were him, I'd be consulting a good tax attorney and CPA on top of a good criminal defense lawyer. Joe Bruno (R), make sure you're talking to your CPA as well.

The Latest UMDNJ Scandal

Announced with great fanfare three years ago, the high-tech research center at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey was to be built with $21 million in federal grants and would play an important role in the fight against bioterrorism and deadly infectious diseases.

But almost immediately, a top- ranking university official began trying to move the project out of Newark to Picatinny Arsenal, 30 miles away, as part of a deal that would financially benefit his neighbor.

"Why they did what they did, I don't know," said Bruce C. Vla deck, the university's interim president. "Clearly they put the plans ... on hold while they ran around on all these other wild goose chases. It cost us over a year cer tainly."

The story of the research lab, now three years behind schedule, is detailed in a trove of new documents obtained after a lengthy court battle by The Star-Ledger.

The records paint a picture of a state institution in which high-paid administrators chased state grants they didn't need, built buildings that now seem pointless and em barked on bizarre schemes -- like moving a bioterror lab without telling the officials who funded it.

New Jersey and corruption continue to be perfect together. The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey is at the heart of a huge scandal in its own right, with the school acting as a breeding ground for corruption and shady dealings. Consider that $110 million was spent on a cancer research center building that now sits empty because no one thought about paying for the operation of the building. This comes at a time when the state is considering spending millions on stem cell research using bond acts. Or that other buildings on campus are being used in a limited fashion.

Or, consider that the state spent millions on a bioterror lab, and then state officials tried moving the location from where the NIH grant put it in Newark to the Picatinny Arsenal. If the lab isn't built on schedule, the state stands to lose millions in grant aid for the project.

None of this is prudent.

None of this is sound fiscal policy.

It's about spreading the money around and no one in the state government thinks of the consequences of the profligate spending. No one.

Not the governor.

Not the legislature.

And most voters have tuned out all the scandals because they think this is all we can or should expect of New Jersey politicians.

UMDNJ and Corruption: Perfect Together

This isn't a surprise: Federal and state investigators continue to find corruption and kickbacks at UMDNJ.

The state's medical university took in $36 million in illegal Medicare and Medicaid payments as part of a kickback scheme designed to bolster its troubled cardiac surgery program, and top school officials conspired to cover it all up, according to the school's federal monitor.

The scheme involved 18 cardiologists at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey who were given essentially no-show teaching jobs at salaries of $150,000 or more. In return, they were expected to refer patients to the cardiac surgery program, the monitor alleges in a report sent to the U.S. Attorney and expected to be released tomorrow. The doctors were paid almost $6 million over four years.

This is a surprise (okay, it shouldn't be, but the corrupting influences must be in the water or something): The interim President who was brought in to clean up the University is in trouble for stonewalling and potentially covering up for other malfeasance.

He found that the illegal activity involving hundreds of patient referrals "persists to this day," despite a $2.2 million settlement by the university in June of a whistle-blower's lawsuit. As recently as July, UMDNJ entered into a new contract for $225,000 with another cardiologist, according to the monitor.

Stern's report also directly criticized UMDNJ Interim President Bruce C. Vladeck, who was hired this year to clean up the university. The report says Vladeck misled investigators during interviews with the monitor's office, and tried to downplay the kickback allegations.

The report's findings were outlined by three sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about it. Stern declined comment.

The UMDNJ is the largest health care university center in the nation, and it has been rife with trouble for years. From kickback schemes to no-show jobs and Medicaid fraud resulting in federal monitoring, the University is in serious trouble and no one seems willing or able to clean up the mess.

Technorati: umdnj, corzine, new jersey, corruption.

The Wayne Bryant Show

Another day, another revelation about NJ State Senator Wayne Bryant (D-Camden).

Rutgers University, which employed Sen. Wayne Bryant (D-Camden) as a $35,000-a-year adjunct professor through June, was subpoenaed this morning by federal prosecutors, who are examining the host of public paychecks Bryant collected while he helped dole out millions of dollars of state funds as chairman of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee.

Rutgers President Richard McCormick also today agreed to launch an internal audit of the circumstances surrounding Bryant's hiring at Rutgers-Camden three years ago.

"This audit process was requested by Rutgers-Camden Provost Roger Dennis as part of the university's ongoing program of oversight," Mike Sepanic, Rutgers-Camden spokesman said in a statement this morning. "Rutgers' internal auditors report directly to the Board of Governors and function independent of the administration."

Today's subpoena is the latest in a flurry of state and federal subpoenas filed regarding the senator's public and private work. Over the past two weeks, the Camden Redevelopment Agency, the City of Camden and the Gloucester County Board of Social Services have been served state and federal subpoenas seeking payroll records, time sheets and billing records from Bryant's law firm, Zeller & Bryant.

This is on the heels of the investigation into his no-show job at UMDNJ.

Wayne's World

State Senator Wayne Bryant, he of the no-show job at UMDNJ, has stepped down from his chairmanship of the Senate budget committee. This came after calls by Gov. Corzine for Bryant to step down. But that's not the whole story:

Bryant not only stepped down as budget chairman, but resigned from the committee entirely.

Bryant repeatedly refused comment Monday, citing a statement he released last week that deemed the monitor's report inaccurate and a letter he sent to Codey Monday that simply stated, "After thoughtful discussion with you during the week, I request that I temporarily step down from the Budget and Appropriations process and that an interim chairperson be appointed."

On Friday, Bryant said he would "continue to do my senatorial duties," but didn't indicate that he planned to resign his powerful chairmanship.

Bryant has not been charged with a crime. The monitor's report was delivered to U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie.

Bryant was the main engineer of a 2002 state bailout package for the city of Camden. In it, the state agreed to give the impoverished city $175 million to go toward expanding the city's hospitals and universities, building infrastructure and other projects.

Within a year after the bill was passed, he was on the payroll of both UMDNJ and Rutgers-Camden, two major recipients of the state's help.

So, he's only temporarily stepped down, despite the federal monitor finding that Bryant worked only one morning a week, and even then it was spent reading newspapers.

The investigations continue.

New Jersey has lots of those investigations ongoing these days.

Give UMDNJ A Helping Hand

As if the ongoing mess at UMDNJ wasn't sufficiently bizarre for your tastes, here comes the piece d'resistance.

A 2005 graduate of the UMDNJ medical school was charged today with taking a hand from a school-owned cadaver and giving it to an exotic dancer, who kept it in a jar in her South Plainfield home.

Ahmed Rashed, 26, was released on $1,000 bail after turning himself in to South Plainfield Police headquarters, where he was served with a complaint charging him with theft of human remains.

Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Judson Hamlin said a complaint was signed Friday charging Rashed with taking a left hand from cadaver owned by the medical school in May or June of 2002. “He was identified through an investigation by South Plainfield police and UMDNJ police,” Hamlin said.

Rashed, who now lives in Los Angles, Calif., first learned he was under investigation in late July, said his lawyer, Hassan Abdallah of Elizabeth. He said his client contends he is not guilty.

South Plainfield police first discovered the hand July 21 after going to the Diana Drive home of Linda Kay, responding to a call of a suicidal man. Although no man was found in the house, officers saw the severed left hand in a glass mason jar of formaldehyde on Kay’s dresser.

Meanwhile, Gov. Corzine now says that Democrat Wayne Bryant should step down from the Budget and Appropriations Committee, which comes on the heels of revelations that Bryant had a no-show job at UMDNJ.

Somebody Call a Doctor

The scandal that is UMDNJ doesn't want to go away. We now learn that the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey went about creating a no-show job for a former NJ State Senator Wayne Bryant (D). He was given a position at the school, which was created especially for him and then only showed up occasionally to receive his paychecks. And that's not all of his woes either:

The report has been sent to U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, who is already investigating whether Bryant improperly used his office to steer money to UMDNJ. Christie's office is also examining allegations that the senator used his influence to allow UMDNJ to keep thousands of dollars in grants that should have been returned to the state.

Neither Christie nor the monitor's office would comment.

Informed of the monitor's findings by a reporter, Corzine said he did not want to say too much until he had a chance to digest the report. But, he said, "if the circumstances laid out (by the monitor) prove to be factual, that would be troubling."

A major political force in South Jersey, Bryant has faced increased scrutiny over whether he has personally benefited from his legislative activities and other government jobs.

The state's Economic Development Authority recently approved $360,000 in rent subsidies for a Pennsylvania bank where Bryant served as a member of the board of trustees; Bryant's law firm has done work for two bistate agencies; and Bryant has sponsored bills to help a Camden network of health clinics run by his younger brother, Mark. At one point, Bryant held four government jobs.

This is just the latest in a series of scandals that rocked the college, including Medicaid and Medicare fraud that led to federal monitoring of the school. The school doens't need reassurance, it needs a good and thorough housecleaning, which Gov. Corzine appears incapable of doing.