NJ Man Admits to Being “Runner” for Chiropractor

A Perth Amboy man has been sentenced to state prison for illegally soliciting patients for a local chiropractic center.

According to the Office of the NJ Attorney General and the Woodbridge Patch, Jimmy Tovar, 36, received three years in prison from Superior Court Judge Bradley J. Ferencz in Middlesex County. He admitted that he was a “runner” for the Central Jersey Chiropractic and Rehabilitation Centres, which have several offices throughout New Jersey. Tovar’s sentence came out of his March 16^th guilty plea to the third degree charges of conspiracy to commit running activity, acting as a runner, and failure to file a tax return with the intent to defraud or evade payment.

Tovar admitted in court that he conspired to procure clients, patients, or customers in cooperation with a provider whose purpose was to seek to obtain benefits under an insurance contract for providing services.  On 18 occasions in 2010, Tovar admitted that he accepted between $500 and $9,000 from a provider for the referring people to the chiropractor’s office.

Also in 2010, Tovar stated that he was paid $50,500 for soliciting people after automobile accidents, first to treat at Central Jersey, then referring them to an attorney to pursue a claim for pain and suffering.  The failing to file a tax return charge was a result of the tax year ending 2010.

Tovar was not alone in his missions however, because he was one of seven people that were charged back in July of 2011 by the state Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor after an investigation into suspected running activities for Central Jersey.

New Jersey has an “anti-running statute” that imposes criminal penalties for acting as a runner or using, directing, or employing a runner.  It defines a runner as a someone who attempts to obtain a patient or client at the direction of and for a health care professional or attorney in exchange for payment, when the health care professional or attorney intends to file a claim against an insured person or an insurance carrier for their services.