FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2009
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PHARMACIST CHARGED WITH CONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD MEDICAID
BOSTON, MA - A Dorchester pharmacist was indicted today by a federal grand jury for conspiring to defraud the United States government by submitting false claims to Medicaid, a federally funded program.
Acting United States Attorney Michael K. Loucks; Susan J. Waddell, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations; Mark Dragonetti, Resident Agent in Charge of the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations; Steven W. Derr, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division; and Police Commissioner Edward Davis of the Boston Police Department, announced today that AMADIEGWU ONUJIOGU, age 60, of 27 Blakely Street, Randolph, Massachusetts, was charged in an Indictment with Conspiracy to Defraud the Government, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 286.
“The Indictment and related complaint affidavit allege that ONUJIOGU was using his Dorchester pharmacy to engage in a multi-year scheme to defraud a federal and state program which provides a medical safety net to the poorest Americans,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Loucks. “At the same time, it is alleged that ONUJIOGU was encouraging indigent people with serious illnesses to sell their medications and prescriptions to him for a fraction of their value.”
The Indictment alleges that ONUJIOGU, a registered pharmacist, and owner of Codman Square Pharmacy, operating at 624-626 Washington Street, Dorchester, paid customers to bring prescriptions to the pharmacy but did not dispense the medications to the customers. ONUJIOGU allegedly solicited and received paper prescriptions, and submitted claims for payment to Medicaid without physically dispensing the medication to the individuals. In a related complaint affidavit it is alleged that ONUJIOGU purchased prescriptions from certain Medicaid beneficiaries, particularly individuals with expensive HIV/AIDS and anti-psychotic medications. When these beneficiaries brought paper prescriptions into Codman Square Pharmacy, ONUJIOGU first confirmed that the prescriptions were approved for payment by Medicaid. Then ONUJIOGU entered the prescriptions into the pharmacy computer, and submitted the claims to Medicaid electronically as if the prescriptions had been filled. ONUJIOGU paid a small percentage of the value of the medications to the beneficiaries, in cash, in the back room of his Codman Square Pharmacy, without ever dispensing the medications. Some of these medications fraudulently billed to Medicaid cost more than $1,000 per one-month supply. According to the complaint affidavit, ONUJIOGU has been engaging in this fraud since at least October 2007, and had solicited medications or prescriptions from as many as 40 patients on multiple occasions.
ONUJIOGU was arrested on July 30, 2009 on related charges. He is currently on release under electronic monitoring. If convicted on these charges, ONUJIOGU faces up to 10 years imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.
The case was investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations; the United States Drug Enforcement Administration; the Office of the Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud Division; the Office of the State Auditor, Bureau of Special Investigations; and the Boston Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shelbey Wright of Loucks’ Health Care Fraud Unit.
The details contained in the Indictment and complaint are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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