The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey took in $36-million in illegal Medicare and Medicaid payments as part of a kickback scheme involving cardiologists who referred patients to its cardiac-surgery program, The Star-Ledger reported today, citing anonymous sources who had seen a report from the university’s federal monitor that is expected to be released on Monday. The Newark, N.J., newspaper, which had previously reported on the alleged fraud, said that the monitor’s report would quantify the cost of the purported scheme for the first time. It also said that the report would accuse top officials of the institution of conspiring to cover up the scheme.

In a previous report, the monitor, Herbert J. Stern, a former federal judge, had warned that the total cost of waste, fraud, and abuse at the university might exceed $243-million. The university contends that its liability will be “substantially less.”