NEWARK — A prominent cardiologist from Closter will spend more than six years in prison for pulling off what authorities say was one of the largest healthcare fraud scheme in history.

Dr. Jose Katz, 69, founded two companies — Cardo-Med Services LLC and Comprehensive Healthcare & Medical Services &mdash. As the companies treated patients, Katz intentionally subjected them to various unnecessary tests and procedures, which he billed to Medicare, Medicaid, Aetna, and other agencies for reimbursement, according to U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman.

In all, the scheme brought Katz over $19 million - which authorities say is the largest such fraud ever committed in New Jersey, New York or Connecticut.

"Katz prized illegal profits over patients to a staggering degree, committing record- breaking fraud and compromising care,” said Fishman.

“Prison is an appropriate consequence for ripping off the government and insurance companies through the shocking exposure of patients to unneeded or untrained treatment.”

Authorities say Katz helped fuel his profits by spending millions on advertisements on Spanish-language radio and television stations, which helped keep a steady flow of patients in his offices located in West New York, Paterson, Union City, Manhattan and Queens.

Employees were then ordered to perform a battery of tests, many of them unnecessary, and then diagnose them with conditions such as coronary artery disease or angina. Those patients often underwent procedures that could be dangerous, "therefore subjecting those patients to a substantial risk of serious injury or death", Fishman said.

As part of a plea deal with federal prosecutors, Katz also admitted engineering a scheme that allowed her to collect $263,000 in Social Security benefits by keeping his wife on the payroll at Cardio-Med, despite the fact that she worked very little, if at all.

Katz had pleaded guilty to Social Security fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud during a previous appearance at U.S. District Court in Newark. In addition to 78 months in prison, he will be ordered to pay $19 million in restitution and be subject to three years of supervised release.