TRENTON
- Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal
Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced
that an Essex County pharmacist and his
son were sentenced today for defrauding
the Medicaid program of almost three quarters
of a million dollars.
According
to Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Riza
Dagli, Herbert Brandt, 78, of Verona, the
owner of Pharmacy of America in East Orange,
was sentenced to three years in state prison
by Superior Court Judge Joseph C. Cassini
III in Essex County. Brandt’s son,
Douglas Brandt, 50, of Verona, who operated
Pharmacy of America, was also sentenced
to three years in state prison.
The
defendants were ordered to pay restitution
to the Medicaid program and a civil penalty
totaling $1.1 million. They will be excluded
from the Medicaid program for eight years.
Under the plea agreement, Herbert Brandt
also entered into a consent agreement with
the Board of Pharmacy to surrender his license
to practice pharmacy.
The
two men pleaded guilty on Sept. 23, 2009
to accusations charging them with second-degree
health care claims fraud. Douglas Brandt
also pleaded guilty to third-degree witness
tampering. Douglas Brandt was sentenced
today to three years in prison on the health
care claims fraud charge, and three years
on the witness tampering charge, with the
sentences to run concurrently.
“Any
pharmacist who serves Medicaid beneficiaries
knows firsthand the vital role the program
plays in providing medicines to those who
otherwise could not afford them,”
said Attorney General Dow. “It is
outrageous that a licensed pharmacist would
steal from the program and induce vulnerable
customers to barter away medicines they
need.”
In
pleading guilty, the defendants admitted
that, through Pharmacy of America, they
submitted approximately 2,986 false claims
for payment to Medicaid in the total amount
of $741,842. Defendants admitted that they
paid beneficiaries cash, in lieu of receiving
their AIDS/HIV and other expensive medications.
In turn, Pharmacy of America billed and
was paid by the Medicaid program for medications
that were never ordered or dispensed. Douglas
Brandt also admitted that he attempted to
coerce a witness, John Meo, to withhold
testimony.
The
defendants were charged as a result of Operation
PharmScam, an ongoing investigation targeting
Medicaid fraud that has been conducted by
the Office of the 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. To date, 13 defendants,
including a clinic owner, pharmacist, pharmacy
technician and Medicaid beneficiaries, have
pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme
and have been sentenced or are pending sentencing.
“The
Medicaid program loses millions of dollars
to fraud every year in New Jersey, and far
too frequently licensed professionals are
involved,” said Acting Insurance Fraud
Prosecutor Dagli. “We will continue
to make these cases a top priority in order
to bring dishonest licensees to justice
and prevent the loss of taxpayer funding
for this crucial program.”
On
January 24, 2008, arrest warrants were issued
for 14 persons as part of the investigation
into the Pharmacy of America and other pharmacies
which were buying prescriptions from patients
and billing the Medicaid Program for medicines
that were never provided. At the same time,
the state began an asset forfeiture case
by executing seizure orders for numerous
assets, including more than $660,000 in
assets of the Brandts that will be used,
pursuant to settlement of the forfeiture
case, to pay the criminal restitution and
civil penalty. A full list of defendants
charged is in the Jan. 24 press release
at www.njpublicsafety.com.
The
investigation has been conducted for the
OIFP Medicaid Fraud Control Unit by Detective
Danielle Han, Detective Joseph Jaruszewski,
Detective Jacqueline Latty, Detective Kevin
Gannon and Sgt. Fred Weidman, with assistance
from Auditor Cleair Budhu, Technical Assistant
B’leia Williams and Division of Taxation
Auditor Kevin Curry. Deputy Attorneys General
Sherry Wilson and Debra Conrad are leading
the prosecutions, with assistance from Deputy
Attorney General Erik Daab, Deputy Chief
of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and
Deputy Attorneys General William Hoyman,
Cynthia Vazquez and Linda Rinaldi. Wilson
and Conrad represented the state at the
sentencing.
Deputy
Attorney General Carol Stanton Meier, Sgt.
James Wrightson and Analyst Bethany Schussler
handled the asset forfeiture action for
the Division of Criminal Justice.
Attorney
General Dow also credited the investigators
and officers with the Jersey City Police
Department and the U.S. FDA who have conducted
Operation PharmScam. She further credited
all of the Division of Criminal Justice
investigators and other law enforcement
agencies that assisted in the arrests and
raids and other aspects of the ongoing investigation.
Anyone
with information about fraud or abuse involving
the Medicaid program or Medicaid providers
is urged to contact the Medicaid Fraud Control
Unit toll-free at 1-877-55-FRAUD
or via the Web site www.NJInsuranceFraud.org.
All information received will remain confidential.
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