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TRENTON
- Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal
Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor, announced
that a Hoboken pharmacist was sentenced
today for his role in a scheme to defraud
the Medicaid program.
According
to Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Riza
Dagli, Babak Bamdad, 42, of Hoboken, was
sentenced to 180 days in jail as a condition
of three years of probation by Superior
Court Judge Kevin G. Callahan in Hudson
County. He was ordered to pay restitution
in the amount of $10,000 to the Jersey City
Police Department and a $30,000 civil penalty
to the New Jersey Division of Medical Assistance
and Health Services. Bamdad pleaded guilty
on June 1 to an accusation charging him
with third-degree Medicaid fraud, which
was filed by the Office of the Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor’s Medicaid Fraud
Control Unit.
In
pleading guilty, Bamdad, a pharmacist in
charge at Tucker Drugs on Washington Street
in Hoboken, admitted that between Jan. 1
and Oct. 9, 2009, he submitted claims to
the Medicaid program for prescription drugs
allegedly dispensed to Medicaid beneficiaries,
even though the drugs were never dispensed.
The claims were subsequently paid out by
the Medicaid program.
The
state’s investigation revealed that
Bamdad accepted fictitious prescriptions
for Prevacid, Advair and Singulair from
undercover detectives as payment for narcotic
prescription drugs. Bamdad then billed and
was paid by Medicaid for the Prevacid, Advair
and Singulair even though the prescriptions
were not filled or dispensed.
Deputy
Attorney General Debra A. Conrad represented
the state at the sentencing. The sentence
resulted from an ongoing investigation by
the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor’s
Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Jersey
City Police Department’s Special Investigation
Unit.
Since
October 2009, more than 32 people, including
doctors and pharmacists, have been arrested
in the joint investigation, which uncovered
a major criminal narcotics network based
in Hudson County that distributed thousands
of black market prescription pain pills
such as OxyContin and Percocet. The network
was obtaining fraudulent narcotics prescriptions
and filling them at various pharmacies.
At the same time, Medicaid was being billed
for phony doctor visits and prescription
medicines that were never dispensed.
The
network allegedly distributed the prescription
pain pills throughout Hudson County and
other parts of the state, including Bergen,
Ocean, Morris and Monmouth counties. A single
30 milligram OxyContin pill, known as a
“blue,” typically sells for
$10 to $20 on the street, while a 10 milligram
Percocet pill sells for $5 to $8.
Detective
Kevin Gannon, Sgt. Frederick Weidman and
Deputy Attorneys General Conrad and Cynthia
Vasquez were assigned to the investigation.
They were assisted by the following members
of the Jersey City Police Department’s
Special Investigation Unit under the supervision
of Chief Thomas Comey: Capt. Gary Lallo,
Sgt. Anthony Musante, Sgt. Wally Wolf, Detective
Wael Shahid, Detective Jeff Guilfoyle, Detective
Vincent Disbrow, Detective Hector Marrero,
Police Officer Alex Torres, Police Officer
Chris Dolan, and Police Officer Erik Infantes.
“Abuse
of the Medicaid Program and insurance fraud
by persons who hold professional licenses
are particularly disturbing crimes,”
said Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Dagli.
“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 the
Insurance Fraud Prosecutor.”
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 them. 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 and prosecutes
both civil and criminal Medicaid fraud cases.
Acting
Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Dagli noted that
people can report Medicaid fraud and insurance
fraud anonymously by calling the toll-free
hotline 1-877-55-FRAUD
or visiting 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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