Five Charged in Tampa Area Pharmacy Fraud Scheme

Written by Staff | April 07, 2010

Social Sharing  

Jatin Patel, owner of Rx Shop, Rajnish Mehta, Satender Singh, Naresh Jain and Sachin Amin have been arrested and charged with fabricating prescriptions and submitting the claims to Medicaid, Medicare and Tricare, according to a report in The Tampa Tribune.

Mr. Patel pleaded guilty to making a false statement to a government healthcare program and is currently serving seven months in prison, according to the report. Mr. Mehta is negotiating a plea deal, and Mr. Singh and Mr. Jain are awaiting trial. Mr. Amin pleaded guilty to charges similar to Mr. Patel and is serving 18 months in prison.

Mr. Mehta and Mr. Singh allegedly supplied Mr. Patel with names to use to submit the fraudulent claims, totaling more than $1.5 million. The claims were submitted between 2006 and 2008, according to the report.

Pharmacy fraud is a growing issue, especially since the enactment of the Medicare Part D program, according to the report.

Read the Tribune's report on the pharmacy fraud scheme.

© Copyright ASC COMMUNICATIONS 2011. Interested in LINKING to or REPRINTING this content? View our policies by clicking here.