NEW YORK, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Former New York State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada Jr., who stands accused of embezzling federal funds from a nonprofit health-care network, has been indicted on new charges that he made false statements to federal agencies, Brooklyn federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

The superseding indictment returned late Tuesday by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of New York charges Espada, a Democrat who previously represented the Bronx, with lying on a 2008 Medicare cost report about the profits earned by Espada's for-profit management company from its contract with Soundview Healthcare Network, the Bronx health-care network at the center of the earlier embezzlement charges.

Espada is also accused of submitting false documents to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration about his salary, according to the indictment.

Espada is a former three-term state senator who rose to serve as Senate Majority Leader before he was defeated in a primary race in 2010. He is the president and CEO of Soundview and its flagship clinic, Soundview Health Center, and his involvement in both has been under civil and criminal investigation for more than a decade.

Espada and his son, Pedro Gautier Espada, were both indicted in December 2010 on five counts of embezzlement and one count of conspiracy in connection with a scheme that allegedly diverted more than $500,000 in federal funds from Soundview into their own pockets.

Prosecutors said Espada used the funds to pay law firms involved in litigation connected to his political campaign as well as for tutoring for a family member, a ghostwriter to work on a personal book project, home improvements and even catering, pony rides and a petting zoo for a birthday party.

SEPARATE TAX FRAUD CHARGES

In March, Espada and his son were hit with additional charges of submitting fraudulent tax returns in connection with the alleged scheme.

Espada is scheduled to be arraigned on the new charges on January 25. He and his son have previously pleaded not guilty to the charges against them. They are tentatively scheduled to go to trial on March 12.

Then-New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo also filed a lawsuit against Espada in April 2010, accusing him and 19 other Soundview executives of bilking $14 million from the clinic's coffers. That case is still pending in New York state court.

An attorney for Espada could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday morning.

The case is U.S. v. Espada et al, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, no. 10-985.

For the U.S.: Assistant U.S. attorneys Carolyn Pokorny, Roger Burlingame and Todd Kaminsky.

For Espada: Susan Necheles and Thomas Thornhill of Hafetz Necheles & Rocco.

(Reporting By Jessica Dye)

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