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New Jersey says organized crime has ties to health care
August 21, 1996
Web posted at: 1:00 p.m. EDT
NEWARK, New Jersey (CNN) -- The Mafia for the first time has infiltrated the health care business, New Jersey law enforcement officials said after conducting a two and a half year undercover investigation.
State authorities Tuesday raided the offices of Tri-Con Associates, a Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey-based health care broker, and arrested 12 men allegedly linked to the Genovese crime family.
"We are alleging for the first time the involvement of organized crime in
the health care industry," said Peter Veriero, New Jersey's attorney general,
in an interview with The New York Times. (214K AIFF or WAV sound)
Health care may represent a new and lucrative field for organized crime, authorities warned. Mafia families for years have been involved in garbage removal, trucking and garment manufacturing, among other businesses.
We hope it's not a national trend, but we cannot dismiss that possibility, said Veriero.
Tri-Con allegedly overcharged group health care providers and may have used private medical records to commit blackmail and extortion.
The company serves more than 1 million patients in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Montana and Oklahoma. It arranged health care for two affiliates of the Laborers Union, which is being monitored by the federal government for organized crime ties.
The chief executive of Tri-Con is Stefano Mazzola, a former Passaic, New Jersey, police officer who has served jail time for armed robbery and loansharking.
Mazzola, along with others arrested in the case, is an alleged associate of the Genovese crime family, reputedly headed by Vincent "The Chin" Gigante of New York.
Gigante has not been charged in the Tri-Con case, but faces unrelated charges of murder and racketeering.
Said Terrence P. Farley, director of the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice: "Ultimately, we will prove that there was involvement at that level."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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