The main witness against Mayor Felix Roque, a physician, in his healthcare kickback trial is the man who admitted paying Roque to refer patients to his MRI lab
WEST NEW YORK -- Arguments are scheduled to begin Tuesday in the trial of Felix Roque, a physician and mayor of West New York, who is accused of taking kickbacks from the operator of an MRI lab owner in return for referrals.
The commercial bribery charge against Roque is the one remaining count of a three-count indictment initially handed up by a state grand jury, after two related counts were dismissed by the Bergen County Superior Court judge who will hear the case.
Roque, a pain management specialist with a practice a few blocks from his West New York Town Hall office, was accused of violating state health insurance law and defrauding insurers by accepting $250,000 in kickbacks from a Boonton man who operated a chain of MRI labs, Diagnostic Imaging Affiliates.
A three-count indictment had also charged that Roque failed to report the payments, and that he conspired with the lab owner to defraud insurers. However, following a motion by his lawyer, Christopher Adams, Judge Christopher Kazlau dismissed the fraud and conspiracy charges.
Kazlau did allow the bribery charge to stand, leading to this week's trial in Hackensack.
Kazlau was assigned the case after it was moved to Bergen County from Hudson, which includes West New York, to avoid any conflicts. Roque is not being tried by the Bergen County Prosecutor's office, but rather by the state Division of Criminal Justice.
Roque has asserted that the charges rely solely on the testimony of the MRI lab owner, Rehan "Ray" Zuberi of Boonton. The mayor has said Zubari is not credible because Zubari is awaiting sentencing on his own guilty plea from May 2015 and will say anything prosecutors want in exchange for leniency.
Zuberi is expected to testify for the prosecution this week.
A spokeswoman for the criminal justice division, Lisa Coryell, declined to comment.
Roque, a Democrat twice elected in West New York's non-partisan municipal races, said the charges have damaged his reputation, cost him financially, and taken a toll on his personal and professional life.
Several other doctors have pleaded guilty in the case. The trial for one of them, Dr. John Fritz of Jersey City, has been delayed as a result of Roque's protracted case.
Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.