A Superior Court judge in Hackensack said he will rule on July 8 whether to throw out state charges against Dr. Felix Roque, a physician who is also the Democratic mayor of West New York Watch video
HACKENSACK -- A judge said he would rule on July 8 whether to throw out state insurance fraud charges against Dr. Felix Roque, a physician and mayor of West New York.
Judge Christopher Kazlau scheduled the date after a hearing in Superior Court in Hackensack on Monday, when he heard arguments by Roque's lawyer and a state deputy attorney general on Roque's motion to dismiss the charges, which were handed up by a state grand jury one year ago.
The state alleges that Roque broke state health insurance law and defrauded insurers by taking $250,000 in kickbacks from the operator of a Boonton MRI lab to which he had referred patients and then failed to report those payments to the insurers, which covered the cost of the procedures.
The lab owner, Rehan "Ray" Zuberi, pleaded guilty in May 2015 to fraud charges alleging the involvement of several other doctors, and he and his wife now await sentencing. They are also being sued for $7.4 million by insurance companies seeking to recoup fraudulent payouts.
Roque and his lead attorney, Christopher Adams, insist the mayor never took any payments, and say the state's case relies solely on the testimony of the MRI lab owner, whom they accuse of saying whatever prosecutors want in a bargain for his own leniency.
"He is totally unbelievable," Adams said later.
Crystal Callahan, the deputy attorney general who argued for the state in court on Monday, declined to comment after the hearing.
It's the second time Roque has face criminal charges in recent years, after he was arrested in 2012 on charges he and his son hacked into the "Recall Roque" website of a political opponent in February 2012 and deleted its contents. His son, Joseph Roque, pleased guilty to a misdemeanor charge in the case, but testified that the mayor knew nothing about the hacking, and a jury acquitted the elder man in October 2013.
Roque said even if the charges are thown out, some damage is done.
"It hurts," Roque said in an interview outside the Bergen County Courthouse. "Because it's taken a lot of toll on my family, it's taken a big toll on my patients, And also being the mayor of the great town of West New York. It takes a toll. Money, and they're hurting my reputation, they're trying to hurt my reputation."
Roque, 59, is a native of Cuba who has vowed to return to the island and help foster democracy there, possibly by running for office.
"I'm blessed to be in a great country like the United States," Roque added. "Because, I tell you, if I was in Cuba right now I probably would be in jail and shot."
Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.