Manchester middleman in pain cream fraud scheme admits bribes

Another defendant pleads guilty in a federal probe of a Lakewood compounding pharmacy, and heads for sentencing.

Howard Wertheim, 67, of Manchester, admitted bribing a Toms River sports doctor to recommend a pain cream concocted by Prescriptions R Us, according to information from New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.

At his scheduled April sentencing, Wertheim risks up to five years in prison and a fine as high as $250,000. His plea bargain also requires him to forfeit $25,000, representing his income for his role in the scheme.

The doctor, James Morales, 45, awaits sentencing for his guilty plea to conspiracy to accept kickbacks and health care fraud, entered June 29, 2015.

The company's president and pharmacist-in-charge, Vladimir Kleyman, 44, of Lakewood, was sentenced to 20 months in prison on November 4, 2015, for his guilty plea to conspiracy to pay kickbacks and commit health care fraud.

Prescriptions R Us tailored medications specific to paitent conditions and symptoms, including a topical cream containing Ketamine, a Schedule III non-narcotic, along with lidocaine, diclofenac and other ingredients, authorities said.

In a Camden courtrooom, Wertheim admitted that, working for Kleyman, he paid tens of thousands of dollars in bribes to the doctor between February and October 2013.