TRENTON
- Vaughn L. McKoy, Director, Division
of Criminal Justice, announced that the
former owner of a defunct Newark pharmacy
has been sentenced to three years in state
prison for his role in a multi-defendant
scam that fraudulently billed the Medicaid
Program nearly $300,000 for medications
that were never dispensed. The Medicaid
Program, funded by the state and federal
governments, provides health care services
and prescription drugs to persons unable
to afford medical care.
“This
investigation successfully prosecuted
the owners of a pharmacy, a doctor, and
a pharmacist on charges that they concocted
a sophisticated scheme which fraudulently
obtained thousands of dollars in Medicaid
reimbursements for prescription drugs
that were never provided to patients.
In short, the scam enriched the defendants
at the expense of the Medicaid Program,”
said Criminal Justice Director McKoy.
According to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
Greta Gooden Brown, Azam Khan, 43, West
54th Street, NYC, the co-owner of S. Brothers
Pharmacy formerly located at 687 Frelinghuysen
Ave., Newark, was sentenced by Essex County
Superior Court Judge Donald Volkert on
Jan. 27 to three years in state prison.
The state sentence is concurrent to a
federal money laundering conviction and
10-month federal prison sentence. After
serving the state and federal sentences,
Khan will be transferred to an INS detention
facility for deportation to Pakistan.
Brown noted that Khan pled guilty on Aug.
9, 2002 before Essex County Superior Court
Judge Joseph A. Falcone to a criminal
Accusation that charged Health Care Claims
Fraud. In pleading guilty, Khan admitted
that between January and October, 1998,
S. Brothers Pharmacy fraudulently billed
Medicaid more than $293,815 for medications
that were never dispensed or that were
dispensed to persons using stolen Medicaid
recipient numbers. In some cases, phony
bills were submitted to Medicaid for medications
prescribed to recipients who had died
years before.
The Insurance Fraud Prosecutor’s
investigation identified and charged several
other co-defendants, including Shahid
Khawaja, 47, Selkirk Street, NYC, co-owner
of S. Brothers Pharmacy, Dr. Axat Jani,
40, Fairlawn, Bergen County, and pharmacist
Milton Barasch, 75, Ivy Way, Aberdeen,
Monmouth County.
Brown noted that Jani pleaded guilty before
Essex County Superior Court Judge Michael
J. Nelson on Jan. 7, 2003 to a charge
of Health Care Claims Fraud and was sentenced
on Oct. 15, 2004 to four years in state
prison and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.
Khawaja pleaded guilty before Essex County
Superior Court Judge Michael J. Nelson
on Feb. 14, 2004 to a charge of money
laundering and was sentenced on July 22,
2005 to five years in state prison and
ordered to pay $235,984 in restitution.
Barasch pled guilty to Health Care Claims
Fraud on May 19, 2003 and was sentenced
by Essex County Superior Court Judge Michael
Ravin on Dec. 23, 2005 to four years in
state prison.
The lengthy and complicated investigation
was coordinated by the Division of Criminal
Justice - Office of the Insurance Fraud
Prosecutor’s Medicaid Fraud Control
Unit. State Investigator Jon Powers and
Deputy Attorney General Mark Ondris were
assigned to the investigation. The U.S.
Attorney’s Office for the District
of New Jersey assisted in the insurance
fraud investigation.
“Theft of Medicaid money is a theft
of tax dollars and health care insurance
and prescription drug money from persons
who can not otherwise afford health insurance
and prescription drugs,” said Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor Brown.
