Office of the Attorney General: Pharmacy Owner Pleads Guilty to Billing Medicaid for HIV/AIDS Prescriptions That Were Never Dispensed

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

August 19, 2008

Contact: Division of Criminal Justice
609-292-4791


TRENTON - Attorney General Anne Milgram announced that the owner of two pharmacies in East Orange and Jersey City pleaded guilty today to overbilling Medicaid by hundreds of thousands of dollars for HIV/AIDS drugs that were never dispensed.

According to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden Brown, Abdul Bari, 53, of Nutley, pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge Kevin G. Callahan in Hudson County to an accusation charging him with second-degree health care claims fraud and third-degree filing a false or fraudulent New Jersey income tax return.

Bari, one of the owners of MLK Pharmacy on M.L.K Drive in Jersey City and Ampere Pharmacy on 4th Avenue in East Orange, admitted that between January 2005 and October 2007, he fraudulently submitted bills to the Medicaid program for HIV/AIDS drugs that were never dispensed. He admitted that he purchased prescriptions from Medicaid participants for a small fraction of the cost of the drugs prescribed, and in turn billed Medicaid thousands of dollars without dispensing the drugs. An investigation led by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor revealed that the two pharmacies overbilled Medicaid by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Additionally, Bari admitted that he caused fraudulent personal income tax returns to be submitted to the New Jersey Division of Taxation for tax years ending in 2004 through 2006.

Under the plea agreement, Bari faces a sentence of three years in state prison. Bari is scheduled to appear before Judge Callahan on Oct. 10 to be sentenced.

The Attorney General’s Office also instituted an asset forfeiture case on October 29, 2007, when it seized assets from Bari valued at approximately $300,000, including a parcel of real property, $173,000 in bank accounts and two vehicles. In settling the forfeiture case, Bari agreed to forfeit all seized assets and to pay an additional $327,000. Restitution in the amount of $301,000 will be paid to the Medicaid program from the total settlement with Bari.

Detectives Kevin Gannon and Joseph Jaruszewski, and Deputy Attorney General Erik W. Daab were assigned to the investigation. Deputy Attorney Daab represented the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor at the guilty plea hearing. Sgt. James Wrightson and Deputy Attorney General Carol Stanton Meier were assigned to the asset forfeiture case. The Jersey City Police Department also assisted in this investigation. Prosecutor Brown thanked the Jersey City Police Department for their valuable assistance.

“Abuse of the Medicaid program is a particularly disturbing crime,” said Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden Brown. “Not only does such fraud involve theft of tax dollars, it involves theft from a program that assists persons who cannot afford health insurance or health care services. Such cases are a priority for the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor.”

Prosecutor Brown noted that some important cases have started with anonymous tips. People who are concerned about insurance cheating and have information about a fraud can report it anonymously by calling the toll-free hotline 1-877-55-FRAUD or visiting the Web site http://www.njinsurancefraud.org. State regulations permit an award to be paid to an eligible person who provides information that leads to an arrest, prosecution and conviction for insurance fraud.

The Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor was established by the Automobile Insurance Cost Reduction Act of 1998. The office is the centralized state agency that investigates and prosecutes both civil and criminal insurance fraud, as well as Medicaid fraud.