Anthony Correll, who was the lead investigator in Mayor Felix Roque’s bribery case, detailed how nearly $150,000 in cash deposits were made in a 34-month time frame.
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“Did there come a time when you investigated, Dr., defendant Roque?,” Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Chief Deputy Attorney General Peter Sepulveda asked Correll this morning.
“Yes,” he answered.
“And when did the investigation of Dr. Roque begin?,” Sepulveda inquired.
“That was about June of 2014,” Correll said, going on to say this was before Rehan Zuberi was a cooperating witness for the government.
Correll, who also investigated Zuberi’s case when he was a detective for the state Division of Criminal Justice Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, said he saw referrals from from Roque to the Zuberi organization while Roque was being investigated for alleged bribery.
In personally “calculating the numbers and payment” structure related to the bribery and referral scheme, Correll said the total number of bribes accepted by Roque totaled approximately $245,500.
From there, Correll took over an hour to go over dozens of Roque’s personal bank records, specifically $149,667.13 in cash deposits, at his TD Bank between September 16, 2010 and July 26, 2013.
He said each deposit indicated a specific number of bribes given to Roque by the Zuberi organization in exchange for referrals to his medical imaging center.
On Monday, Zuberi testified that each bribe for an MRI referral was either $100 or $150, while a CAT scan was $50, amounts that were suggested by Roque.
John MacDonald, co-counsel for Roque in the matter, pointed out during cross-examination that Correll did not actually witness Zuberi bribing Roque at any time, nor did he ever request tax records or real estate records related to properties Roque owns and collects rent for.
