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TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram and Division
of Criminal Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni
announced that a Union County man pleaded
guilty today for his role in a $2 million
stolen prescription drug scheme.
According
to Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Riza
Dagli, Pedro Diaz, 79, of Elizabeth, pleaded
guilty to second-degree fencing and second-degree
conspiracy before Superior Court Judge Peter
V. Ryan in Essex County. The charges were
contained in a state grand jury indictment
returned on July 27, 2007.
Judge
Ryan scheduled sentencing for Jan. 29, 2010,
at which time the state will recommend a sentence
of four years in state prison.
In
pleading guilty, Diaz admitted that he and
Aiad Saman, 54, of Staten Island, NY, supplied
stolen prescriptions to Charles Jyamfi, 55,
a licensed pharmacist who ran his now-defunct
pharmacy, Ojah Pharmacy in East Orange, in
exchange for cash payments. Diaz admitted
that he knew Jyamfi was selling and dispensing
these prescriptions to the public. Diaz further
admitted that he profited from the illegal
transactions.
Saman
and Jyamfi were both charged in the state
grand jury indictment. Saman pleaded guilty
on June 5, 2008 to conspiracy and perjury,
and was sentenced on Aug. 25, 2008 to five
years in state prison.
Jyamfi
was charged with first-degree conspiracy to
commit racketeering, first-degree racketeering,
first-degree money laundering, second-degree
conspiracy to commit fencing, second-degree
fencing, and second-degree receiving stolen
property. The charges against Jyamfi are still
pending. There is an active bench warrant
for Jyamfi, as he failed to appear for his
matter.
The
indictment against Jyamfi alleges that between
August 2002 and October 2004, he allegedly
purchased approximately $2 million in stolen
prescription drugs from Diaz, Saman 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.
Two
other individuals who sold stolen drugs to
Ojah Pharmacy were Stephen Dwamena and Gayford
Yaw. Dwamena, 63, of Union, formerly a pharmacist
at Trinitas Hospital in Elizabeth and University
Hospital in Newark, pleaded guilty in October
2006 to stealing prescription drugs from his
employers and was sentenced to three years
probation and ordered to pay $74,000 in restitution
and perform 100 hours of community service.
Yaw, 46, of Landing, formerly a pharmacy technician
at Atlantic Health Systems/Morristown Hospital
and Ojah Pharmacy, pleaded guilty in April
2007 to stealing prescription drugs from Morristown
Hospital and was subsequently sentenced to
three years probation and ordered to perform
100 hours of community service and pay more
than $13,000 in restitution.
The
investigation was coordinated by Detective
Jon Powers, Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
Riza Dagli and Deputy Attorney General Debra
Conrad of Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor’s
Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Dagli presented
the case to the grand jury, and represented
the state at the previous trials in this investigation
while Conrad represented the state at today’s
guilty plea hearing.
"The
detection and prosecution these offenses is
a priority for this office," said Acting
Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Dagli. “Not
only are fraudulent prescription claims a
significant drain on private insurance and
public health programs, but stolen medications
are often unpackaged and loose with no way
to track their expiration dates or integrity."
Acting
Fraud Prosecutor Dagli 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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