CityMD hit with $6.6M fraud fine
GARBAGE TRUCK driver Sean Spence fatally ran down two people in the Bronx — and drove himself further into trouble by lying about one of his victims.
The embattled Sanitation Salvage employee lied to police about his first crash last November, telling cops that an off-thebooks worker who was helping on his route was a crazed homeless man who suddenly jumped on the side of his rig, sources with knowledge of the case said.
Spence, 33, is suspended from his trash-hauling job while the city and the NYPD work to revoke his commercial drivers license.
Spence was behind the wheel of a Sanitation Salvage truck on Nov. 7, when 21-year-old Mouctar Diallo lost his grip from the truck’s side and fell under its wheels on Jerome Ave. near E. Gun Hill Road in Norwood.
The fatality happened roughly a month before Sanitation Salvage was to get its city license renewed, sources said.
When police arrived, Spence described the dead person as a homeless man, and claimed not to know him.
But the driver’s lie came to light in January as the city’s Business Integrity Commission and advocates for organized labor held meetings about concerns in the private carting industry.
“Upon learning the driver lied to the city about the circumstances of this fatality, we requested the driver’s suspension and began diligently investigating Sanitation Salvage and its practices,” BIC Commissioner Daniel Brownell said Friday.
“If this investigation finds that Sanitation Salvage should no longer be operating on our streets, BIC can initiate the process to revoke the company’s license,” Brownell said.
Confronted about his lie, Spence admitted that the man he hit was working on the truck and that he had fibbed about him, sources said.
Sanitation Salvage pulled Spence from his route earlier this week — after he killed a second pedestrian.
On April 27, Spence fatally struck Leon Clark on E. 152nd St. near Jackson Ave. in Morrisania.
Clark, who was in his 70s and lived in the nearby Adams Houses, died at the scene, cops said.
Calls to Spence were not returned.
When reached Thursday, Sanitation Salvage refused to comment on Spence or demands from critics to revoke the company’s license. A call Friday was not returned.
“Private sanitation companies in this city treat workers like trash, and Sanitation Salvage is one of the worst,” said Sean Campbell, the President of Teamsters Local 813. “A young man died on the job, people lied about it, and no one is being held accountable.
“He deserves justice and the whole industry needs top-to-bottom reform,” Campbell said.
Despite the lie, investigators determined Spence was not responsible for Diallo’s death, police said.
“After a thorough investigation by the NYPD Collision Investigation Squad, which included interviews with witnesses, 911 callers as well as reviewing video at the scene, it was determined that the collision was caused by pedestrian error,” NYPD spokesman Lt. John Grimpel said. “After conferral with the Bronx District Attorney’s Office, it was determined that no criminal action, including the issuing of a summons, would be warranted.”
Diallo’s mother, Hadiatou Barry, believes there’s more to the story.
“This man had two accidents,” Barry said outside her East Tremont apartment. “God knows what happened that night. I want the truth. I want the truth for my son. I’m in great pain.”
A Sanitation Salvage supervisor told the Daily News that Spence has worked for the company for about three years — and was “a safe driver and a good guy.”
“I’m the one who gave him the road test,” said the supervisor, who asked not to be named. “He hasn’t driven for us since the last accident. To tell you the truth, he can’t come back here because of the accident. It’s just our rule.”
Sanitation Salvage has been in business for more than 30 years.
The Business Integrity Commission investigates complaints against private trash haulers, which pick up refuse from private businesses. Sanitation Department trucks haul trash from residences.
Private trash carters killed 43 New Yorkers between 2010 and November 2017, city data shows. DIAGNOSIS: FRAUD. Prescription: a multimillion-dollar fine.
CityMD, the popular chain of urgent-care centers, agreed to pay $6.6 million for submitting false claims to Medicare, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said Friday.
The payment settles a civil fraud lawsuit brought by a whistleblower and Berman’s office.
“CityMD improperly billed Medicare at significant cost to taxpayers,” Berman said.
“This settlement holds CityMD accountable both through the significant monetary payment and the detailed admissions made by CityMD.”
As part of the settlement, CityMD admitted it duped Medicare by billing the federal program for lengthier and more complex procedures than its doctors actually performed.
It also ’fessed up to billing Medicare for services performed by physicians not credentialed with the federal program.
Berman’s office joined a whistleblower’s False Claims Act lawsuit that was filed under seal until the settlement was reached.
CityMD has 88 centers, mostly in the New York metropolitan area.