Ex-Bellevue Head Cited For Bribery

By RICHARD STEIER

The former Executive Director of Bellevue Hospital has been indicted for allegedly taking bribes to steer a medical record transcription contract to a vendor, Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau announced March 4.

ROBERT MORGENTHAU: A felony transcription.

The improper payoffs took the form of $25,000 to his girlfriend - whom he subsequently married - for creating a two-page brochure and a two-page marketing plan for Professional Transcription Company, and two loans totaling $2,500 that Mr. Perez never repaid, the DA said.

Could Get 15 Years

Mr. Perez, who pleaded not guilty to the charge of bribe-receiving in the second and third degrees in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, served as the head of Bellevue from 1997 to 2005. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

His spokesman, George Arzt, said, "Carlos Perez is a dedicated public servant who has served this city with distinction for 30 years. He is absolutely innocent of these charges and looks forward to being completely cleared in a court of law."

DA: Dinner Plot

According to the Manhattan DA, Mr. Perez, his unidentified girlfriend and the owner of Professional Transcription met for dinner one night in 2000 to discuss how the company could be helped. A short time later, the firm hired the girlfriend, "ostensibly to perform marketing work," the DA said in a statement, and paid her $25,000, $5,000 of it in cash.

Subsequently Bellevue began taking bids for a medical transcription provider. The DA alleged that Mr. Perez spoke to his subordinates about choosing Professional Transcription, then arranged a meeting between the firm and those employees that he attended. Mr. Perez is accused of making several follow-up calls to those involved in choosing a vendor to inquire about Professional Transcription's bid.

The DA noted that the firm did not get the contract. Bellevue could not supply the amount of the winning bid.