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TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal
Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni announced
that the owner of an Essex County pharmacy
has been sentenced for bilking Medicaid out
of more than $10,000.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Twumasi Ampofo, 40, of Irvington, the
owner of Victory Pharmacy on Springfield Avenue
in Irvington, was ordered by Superior Court
Judge Denise A. Cobham in Essex County yesterday
(March 30) to serve five years probation and
to pay $10,387 in restitution and a criminal
fine of $25,000. Judge Cobham also permanently
barred Ampofo from participating in any state
or federally funded health insurance or prescription
assistance program, such as Medicaid and Medicare.
The sentence is a result of Ampofo’s
guilty plea to health care claims fraud, a
charge contained in a Dec. 20, 2007 state
grand jury indictment.
At
the Nov. 13, 2008 guilty plea hearing, Ampofo
admitted that between July and October 2007,
he paid cash to Medicaid beneficiaries in
return for prescriptions, including medications
for HIV/AIDS. Ampofo admitted that he billed
the Medicaid program as if the prescriptions
had been filled when, in fact, they had not.
Medicaid paid Victory Pharmacy $10,387 on
the false claims.
Detective
Laura Pezzuti and Deputy Attorney General
Linda Rinaldi were assigned to the investigation.
Rinaldi represented the Office of Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor at the sentencing.
The
Medicaid program, which is funded by the state
and federal governments, provides health care
services and prescription drugs to persons
who may not otherwise be able to afford such
services and medicines.
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