The first of two suspects was arrested at the 184th Street Pharmacy. The Bronx pharmacist committed Medicaid fraud by doling out AIDS medication and buying prescriptions back
The owners of the 184th St. Pharmacy and its druggist allegedly bought HIV medication back from AIDS patients then resold them, state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said. The three Queens men were charged with felony grand larceny, scheming to defraud the government and money laundering.
Pharmacy owners Ahmed Hamed, 37, and Tarek Elsayed, 48, were arrested along with pharmacist Mohammed Hassan Ahmed, 36, at 184th Street Pharmacy just before noon Tuesday.
“These defendants abused the fundamental trust between health care providers and patients by putting their own greed above the health needs of the patients,” said state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in a statement. “This blatant theft and abuse of one of our state’s most important health care programs is reprehensible and will not be tolerated.”
The prescriber allegedly paid patients cash for their medications, kept the Medicaid payments for the pills, then resold them to other sick patients. It was unclear what medication the suspects were doling out.
The trio submitted claims for thousands of dollars in reimbursements to Medicaid and Medicaid managed care organizations for medications they did not dispense between March 1, 2013 and the present, officials said.
In less than a year, government-sponsored health care programs paid 184th Street Pharmacy in excess of $9.8 million.
Investigators said Hamed also paid patients bonuses if they referred others to his services.
Cops led Ahmed Hamed and Mohammed Hassan Ahmed from the pharmacy in handcuffs. The pair attempted to hide their faces from cameras and did not respond to reporters’ questions.
The three Queens men were charged with felony grand larceny, scheming to defraud the government, and money laundering.
Hamed and Elsayed used multiple shell corporations to launder the millions they made through the scam, according to the Attorney General’s office.
Some in the neighborhood said the scam is not uncommon.
“I’ve sold my meds before,” admitted Mt. Hope resident Anthony Campbell. “I paid my bills with the money. A man’s going to sell his
medications if that’s the only way he’s going to feed his family.” The pharmacy owners in Tuesday’s bust were using their ill-gotten gains to finance a lavish lifestyle, according to investigators. The Attorney General froze numerous bank accounts linked to the bogus companies and seized a Maserati, two BMWs and a Mercedes-Benz owned by the pill peddlers.
The three were expected to be arraigned sometime Tuesday evening.
Nadine Lavaughn, 54, who has been HIV positive since 1989, said she was shocked people would sell prescriptions for cash.
“I need my medications every day,” Lavaughn said after asking investigators how she would get her pills. “Some people, I guess if
they’re homeless, even if they’re dying, they’ve got to eat.”
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