Former Millburn Doc Pleads Guilty in Lab Test Referral Scheme

A former Millburn doctor pleaded guilty Wednesday to accepting bribes in exchange for test referrals to a Parsippany lab, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Wayne Lajewski, 51, of Madison, became the 26th defendant to plead guilty in the long-running scheme connected to Parsippany-based Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services LLC.

Lajewski had been part of the Associates in Primary Care practice on Willow Street in Millburn and most recently practiced internal medicine at a Main Street office in Madison.

Lajewski was appointed as the Madison School District medical inspector in February 2012. He replaced former Councilman Vincent Esposito, who admitted in December to writing illegal painkiller prescriptions.

Lajewski was re-appointed as district medical inspector for $9,400 plus $150 for each home football game in a new contract from July 1, 2013 to Dec. 31, 2014.

According to court documents, Lajewski admitted accepting $2,000 in cash per month for a two-year period in exchange for referring patient blood specimens to BLS, which received more than $850,000.

Lajewski faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine at sentencing on July 8. Lajewski agreed to forfeit $48,000—the amount he received in bribes—as part of the plea agreement, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

A total of 26 people, including 15 doctors, have pleaded guilty in connection with the scheme.

The organizers have admitted the scheme involved millions of dollars in bribes and yielded more than $100 million in payments to BLS from Medicare and other private insurance companies, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

The investigation has recovered more than $7 million so far in forfeitures, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.