| TRENTON
- An Essex County pharmacy, and the pharmacy’s
former manager and pharmacy assistant have
been convicted of Medicaid fraud and related
crimes after a five-week jury trial in Essex
County Superior Court, Attorney General
Zulima V. Farber announced.
According to Division of Criminal Justice
Director Gregory A. Paw and Insurance Fraud
Prosecutor Greta Gooden-Brown, Ojah Pharmacy,
located at 42-44 Sussex Ave., East Orange,
former pharmacy manager Verona Boodram,
28, Bloomfield, and former pharmacy technician
Alpha Bangoura, 31, Orange, were convicted
of Health Care Claims Fraud and Medicaid
Fraud for bilking the Medicaid Program out
of more than $40,000. The investigation
continues.
The jury trial before Essex County Superior
Court Judge Michael L. Ravin determined
that the defendants submitted false prescription
reimbursement claims to Medicaid and paid
cash kickbacks to Medicaid beneficiaries
to induce them to patronize the Ojah Pharmacy.
Upon conviction, bail for both defendants
was revoked and they were remanded to the
Essex County Jail. When sentenced on May
5, the defendants each face more than ten
years in state prison, fines exceeding $160,000,
and deportation as illegal residents. The
Ojah Pharmacy faces permanent exclusion
from future participation in any federal
or state health care program in addition
to a $150,000 criminal fine, up to $40,000
in restitution, and a civil penalty of up
to five times the amount of the theft ($40,000).
The Essex County jury found that from June
2002 through October 2004, Ojah Pharmacy,
through Boodram and Bangoura, over billed
Medicaid more than $40,000 for prescription
medications that were not dispensed. The
jury also convicted Bangoura and Boodram
on charges that they enticed Medicaid patients,
specifically HIV/AIDS patients, to negotiate
prescriptions at the Ojah Pharmacy by offering
ten dollars worth of store merchandise for
each prescription. Additionally, Ojah Pharmacy
paid Medicaid recipients an additional ten
to one-hundred dollars in cash per prescription
depending on the value of the medication.
Criminal Justice Director Paw noted that
prescription fraud and the “buy-back”
of prescriptions from Medicaid patients
is becoming more common. The Office of Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor has uncovered instances
where pharmacies benefit from the scam by
billing Medicaid the cost of expensive drugs
without actually dispensing the medications
- in essence, selling the same drugs more
than once. The human cost is even more significant,
in that patients sell prescriptions for
cash and do not have medications to treat
significant ailments.
Deputy Attorney General Riza Dagli, State
Investigators Melissa Calkin and Jon Powers,
Auditor Cleair Budhu, and were assigned
to the investigation. Deputy Attorneys General
Dagli and Mark Ondris represented the Division
of Criminal Justice - Office of Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor at the trial.
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