NEWARK, NJ–The owner of a Newark pharmacy was sentenced in connection with an investigation into pharmacy owners and employees involved in Medicaid fraud.
Gabriel was involved in a scam in which pharmacy technicians bought completed prescription forms for HIV/AIDS drugs from impoverished patients so Medicaid could be billed for drugs that were never actually dispensed.
Nwala Gabriel, 49, of Piscataway, was sentenced to three years of probation by Superior Court Judge Michael A. Petrolle in Essex County. Gabriel, the owner of Harrison Pharmacy on Martin Luther King Boulevard in Newark, was also ordered to pay $178,272 in fines and restitution and serve 150 hours of community service. He will be excluded from the Medicaid program for three years and must surrender his license to practice pharmacy for a minimum period of three years or until he successfully completes all terms of his criminal sentence.
The sentence was based on Gabriel's guilty plea to Medicaid fraud. The charge was contained in a state grand jury indictment obtained by the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit on Oct. 26, 2009.
In pleading guilty on Feb. 23, admitted that he fraudulently billed Medicaid for prescription drugs that were never dispensed to the Medicaid beneficiaries.
Deputy Attorneys General Sherry Wilson and Debra Conrad represented the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor at sentencing.
Gabriel was charged as a result of Operation PharmScam, an ongoing investigation targeting Medicaid fraud that began in 2008.
On Oct. 26, 2009, a total of 11 defendants, including Gabriel, were indicted as a result of the investigation into pharmacies that were buying prescriptions from patients and billing the Medicaid Program for medicines that were never dispensed. A full list of defendants charged is in the Oct. 26, 2009 press release at www.njpublicsafety.com.
On Jan. 19, two technicians at Pharmacy of America who were indicted, Jannah Rasheedah Amatul Muid and Alicia Stephens, pleaded guilty to Medicaid fraud. Muid and Stephens were sentenced to three years probation, ordered to pay a $1,000 civil fine and were barred from participating in the Medicaid Program for a period of five years. Muid was ordered to perform 150 hours of community service, while Stephens was ordered to perform 100 hours community service.
On the same day, Shivonne Forde, another Pharmacy of America technician, pleaded guilty to third-degree possession with intent to distribute prescription legend drugs. Forde's sentencing is scheduled for June 3.
Anyone with information about fraud or abuse involving the Medicaid program or Medicaid providers is urged to call the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit toll free at 1-877-55-FRAUD or report it online at www.NJInsuranceFraud.org. All information received will remain confidential.
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