Doc Who Appeared on 'Housewives' Pleads Guilty

A doctor from Franklin Lakes who appeared in a recent episode of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" admitted in federal court Friday that he took cash payments in exchange for patient referrals, the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey said in a release.

Dov Rand, 47, who practices in West Orange, pleaded guilty to one county of violating the federal healthcare anti-kickback statute, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said.

Rand and 12 other New Jersey doctors and charged with accepting envelopes of cash from Orange Community MRI, a diagnostic facility in Orange, according to the release.

Orange Community MRI's executive director, Chirag Patel, 36, of Warren, was also charged in connection with the scheme. Each month, the company calculated kickbacks to Rand based on the number of Medicare and Medicaid referrals he submitted, Fishman said.

Rand faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced on Sept. 13.