New York- The Mafia has gotten into a new growth industry: Paying off doctors for Viagra.
The Gambino crime family has been stockpiling Viagra and a pharmacy full of other prescription drugs allegedly supplied by three prominent Westchester doctors, the Daily News has learned.
Drs. Stephen Klass, Arlen Fleisher and George Shapiro have been caught on FBI tapes providing the drugs to gangster Gregory DePalma, according to law enforcement sources.
DePalma – a veteran capo in the Gambino family – and his crew took bagfuls of drugs from the doctors in 2003 and 2004, according to a longrunning FBI investigation.
The FBI observed or monitored numerous meetings and conversations between the doctors and DePalma, and recorded DePalma and his associates constantly asking for more drugs – especially Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs.
The agents discovered DePalma then sold the drugs or gave them away to friends and family.
“I’ll get you whatever you want. I’ll give you the Viagra. I’ll give you the Vioxx. I’ll give you the Celebrex. You’ll take everything I got,” Klass says on one tape.
The FBI also discovered evidence that DePalma returned the favor by providing the doctors with stolen goods, including a designer watch, suits and bootleg DVDs.
None of the doctors has been charged with crimes. Klass and Fleisher did not return calls seeking comment. Shapiro put a reporter on hold after being asked to comment, then did not return subsequent calls.
Klass is a licensed physician in New Rochelle; Fleisher is a cardiothoracic surgeon at Westchester Medical Center, and Shapiro works out of Associates of Columbia Presbyterian Heart Institute in Scarsdale.
The doctors were allegedly caught openly discussing the arrangement with the mob. In a January 2004 chat, DePalma cajoled Fleisher for more Viagra, promising he would “drum up more business” for the doctor.
Fleisher replied he needed the business since he “only did a few operations this week,” according to law enforcement sources.
In March 2004, DePalma boasted he had gotten a large shipment of drugs from Klass, claiming it was in “a big f—— bag, it’s falling out over the top.”
In that same chat, Klass made it clear he was uncomfortable with the arrangement, though ultimately willing to participate.
DePalma said he wanted Lipitor for his barber and asked Klass why he can’t deliver Viagra to his driver. Klass replies, “I can’t give that stuff away to your barber. You understand? I can’t get medication for 50 people, Greg. That stuff, you know, is like gold.”
He then agreed to give both to DePalma.
At another point, the FBI watched DePalma show an associate packs of Cialis in the trunk of his car. The associate asked if it was all for DePalma.
“I don’t take none of that s—,” he said. “Do you want this instead of Viagra? You get a choice.”
During a July 2004 chat, DePalma complained to Klass about Shapiro’s supplies. Klass promised him “a few sleeves” of Viagra, then apparently took a bootleg DVD from DePalma in return.
“It’s amazing how they make this s—,” Klass said. “Where did you get this?”
DePalma replied, “I got whatever you want. What else do you want. You want to see ‘The Day After?’ ‘The Stepford Wives’?”