TRENTON
- Acting Attorney General Paula T. Dow announced
that two Essex County pharmacy technicians
have pleaded guilty to participating in a
scheme in which pharmacy owners and employees
allegedly bought completed prescription forms
for HIV/AIDS drugs from indigent patients
so Medicaid could be billed for drugs that
were never actually dispensed.
According to Acting Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor Riza Dagli, Jannah Rasheedah
Amatul Muid, 26, of East Orange, and Alicia
Stephens, 29, of Newark, each pleaded guilty
yesterday afternoon to third-degree Medicaid
fraud before Superior Court Judge Michael
A. Petrolle in Essex County. The charge was
contained in a state grand jury indictment
obtained by the Office of Insurance Fraud
Prosecutor’s Medicaid Fraud Control
Unit on Oct. 26, 2009.
At the guilty plea hearing,
the defendants, both technicians at Pharmacy
of America in East Orange, admitted that between
May 11, 2006 and October 15, 2008, they paid
Medicaid beneficiaries for prescriptions and
subsequently billed the Medicaid Program for
prescription drugs that were never dispensed
to the Medicaid beneficiaries.
Deputy Attorney General Sherry
Wilson took the guilty pleas for the Office
of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor.
The crime of third-degree
Medicaid fraud carries a maximum sentence
of three years in state prison and a criminal
fine of $10,000. Judge Petrolle scheduled
sentencing for Muid and Stephens for March
8.
The defendants were charged
as a result of Operation PharmScam, an ongoing
investigation targeting Medicaid fraud that
began in 2008 and has been conducted by the
Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor’s
Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the Jersey City
Police Department and the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration’s Office of Criminal
Investigations.
On
Oct. 26, 2009, a total of 10 defendants, including
Muid and Stephens, were indicted as a result
of the investigation into Pharmacy of America
and other pharmacies that were buying prescriptions
from patients and billing the Medicaid Program
for medicines that were never dispensed. A
full list of defendants charged is in the
Oct.
26, 2009 press release.
The investigation has been
conducted for the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit
by Detective Danielle Han, Detective Joseph
Jaruszewski, Detective Jacqueline Latty, Detective
Kevin Gannon, Sgt. Fred Weidman and Sgt. James
Wrightson. Deputy Attorneys General Sherry
Wilson and Debra Conrad are leading the prosecutions,
with assistance from Deputy Attorneys General
Erik Daab, William Hoyman, Cynthia Vazquez,
Linda Rinaldi and Carol Stanton Meier.
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.
The State of New Jersey administers the Medicaid
Program through the Division of Medical Assistance
and Health Services and through the Office
of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor’s
Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, which investigates
both criminal and civil Medicaid fraud and
abuse in that program.
Acting
Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Dagli noted that
some important cases have started with anonymous
tips. People who are concerned about insurance
cheating and have information about suspected
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 a reward to be paid
to an eligible person who provides information
that leads to an arrest, prosecution and conviction
for insurance fraud.
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