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TRENTON
Attorney General Anne Milgram announced
that a Staten Island man was sentenced to
state prison today for his role in a $2
million stolen prescription drug scheme.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Aiad Saman, 53, of Staten Island,
NY, was ordered by Superior Court Judge
Peter V. Ryan in Essex County to serve to
five years in state prison. Saman was sentenced
pursuant to his June 5 guilty plea to perjury
and conspiracy to commit the crimes of fencing
and receiving stolen property. The charges
were contained in a July 27, 2007 state
grand jury indictment.
In
pleading guilty, Saman, who formerly was
licensed as a pharmacist in New Jersey,
admitted that he brought more than $300,000
in stolen medication to the now-defunct
Ojah Pharmacy in East Orange, and aided
co-defendants Charles Jyamfi, 54, of West
Orange, and Pedro Diaz, 78, of Elizabeth,
in collecting, sorting and dispensing stolen
medication from other sources. Jyamfi and
Diaz were charged in the same July 27 indictment.
At
the guilty plea hearing, Saman also admitted
that he provided false testimony before
the state grand jury which was investigating
Ojah Pharmacy.
The
indictment alleged that Jyamfi, a licensed
New Jersey pharmacist, ran Ojah Pharmacy
as a racketeer-influenced and corrupt organization,
with assistance from Saman, Diaz and others.
Between August 2002 and October 2004, Jyamfi
allegedly purchased approximately $2 million
in stolen prescription drugs from Saman,
Diaz, and others. Jyamfi allegedly used
the stolen drugs to stock his pharmacy.
He allegedly sold the stolen medications,
which were sometimes improperly packaged
and labeled, to the general public, including
persons covered by Medicaid.
In
March 2006, Verona Boodram, 31, of Bloomfield,
and Alpha Bangoura, 34, of Orange, were
convicted at trial of health care claims
fraud and two counts of Medicaid fraud in
connection with the stolen drug scheme.
Bangoura was sentenced to six years in state
prison, while Boodram was sentenced to 5
½ years in state prison and ordered
to pay $21,500 in restitution.
In
addition, Stephen Dwamena, 62, of Union,
who was formerly a pharmacist at Trinitas
Hospital in Elizabeth and University Hospital
in Newark, pleaded guilty on Oct. 30, 2006
to a theft charge for stealing prescription
drugs from his employers and selling them
to Ojah Pharmacy. He was sentenced to serve
three years of probation, perform 100 hours
of community service, and pay $74,000 in
restitution.
Gayford
Yaw, 45, of Landing, who formerly worked
as a pharmacy technician at Atlantic Health
Systems/Morristown Hospital as well as at
Ojah Pharmacy, also pleaded guilty on Nov.
2, 2006 to theft for stealing prescription
drugs from Morristown Hospital and selling
them to Ojah Pharmacy. He was sentenced
to serve three years of probation, perform
100 hours of community service, and pay
$13,468 in restitution.
The investigation was coordinated by Detective
Jon Powers and Deputy Attorney General Riza
Dagli of the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor’s
Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Medicaid Auditor
Cleair Budhu assisted with the investigation.
Dagli represented the state at the sentencing
and at the previous trials in this investigation.
The
charges agains Jyamfi and Diaz are pending
trial.
"Abuse
of the Medicaid program and insurance fraud
by persons who hold professional licenses
are particularly disturbing crimes,"
said Prosecutor Brown. "Not only do
such Medicaid fraud schemes involve theft
of tax dollars, they also represent a theft
from a program designed to assist persons
who cannot afford health insurance or health
care services. Such cases are a priority
for the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor."
Prosecutor
Brown noted that some important cases have
started with anonymous tips. People who
are concerned about insurance cheating and
have information about a fraud can report
it anonymously by calling the toll-free
hotline 1-877-55-FRAUD or visiting the Web
site www.njinsurancefraud.org.
State regulations permit an award to be
paid to an eligible person who provides
information that leads to an arrest, prosecution
and conviction for insurance fraud.
The
Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor was
established by the Automobile Insurance
Cost Reduction Act of 1998. The office is
the centralized state agency that investigates
and prosecutes both civil and criminal insurance
fraud, as well as Medicaid fraud.
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