Health Secretary Indicted on Perjury Charges

NEW ORLEANS (CN) - Gov. Bobby Jindal's former Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein was indicted Tuesday by a state grand jury on charges he lied about his involvement with a now-canceled Medicaid contract.

Under Greenstein's leadership the health department awarded a Medicaid contract worth almost $200 million to Maryland-based Client Network Services Inc., or CNSI, for which Greenstein was formerly employed. Greenstein resigned from the Louisiana health department two months after the contract was cancelled.

The indictment accuses Greenstein of lying under oath on numerous occasions when asked about his role in the bid process when CNSI was awarded the $200 million to provide Medicaid billing and other services.

Health department regulations require that employees involved in the bidding process refrain from engaging in any contact with bidders during the procurement process but the public corruption unit of the Louisiana attorney general's office uncovered evidence that "Greenstein engaged in hundreds of phone calls and thousands of text messages with CNSI, creating an unfair advantage for the company," a statement from the office said.

Prosecutors said CNSI had formerly been considered ineligible to bid but Greenstein changed the rules to accommodate the bidding process. Also, CNSI's bid was the lowest of the four firms vying for the contract, but once accepted, the company added millions of dollars to its estimate for services.

Prosecutors allege Greenstein knowingly gave false testimony to members of the Louisiana State Legislature during a June 2011 hearing regarding his influence in CNSI's successful contract bid and lied again when he came before an East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury in 2014 during a testimony on events surrounding the questionable contract.

In a statement, Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell said, "The major contract to service our seniors and most vulnerable citizens of the state was first entered into unfairly under Greenstein's control. He then knowingly lied under oath to the legislature and the citizens of the state about his improper communication with CSNI in order to cover up his wrongdoing. This type of behavior has no place in state government, and he will be held accountable."

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