South Jersey teacher, salesman, plead guilty in Shore health benefits scam
A Pleasantville High School teacher and a Sewell salesman on Monday became the 17th and 18th men to plead guilty in U.S. District Court in Camden to participating in a multimillion-dollar New Jersey state health benefits fraud that authorities allege ensnared hundreds of police, firefighters, teachers and other public employees in Shore communities.
William Hunter, 43, who works for an industrial equipment company, and Richard McAllister, 42, a teacher who resides in Ocean City, both pleaded guilty to “submitting fraudulent claims for medically unnecessary prescriptions,” according to a joint news release from U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito and state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal.
The guilty pleas took place Monday morning before U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler. As with the 16 previous guilty pleas, both men were charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud.
The pleas are part of a wide-ranging conspiracy that authorities say resulted in as much as $50 million in improper insurance payments from the New Jersey Health Benefits Program, which covers state and local government employees, retirees, and eligible dependents, and the School Employees’ Health Benefits Program, which covers teachers, school employees, retirees, and eligible dependents.
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