Broad Street Family Pharmacy, while licensed to provide services to Medicaid and Medicare consumers, had a business model designed really to commit fraud rather than to provide patient-centered care. Elizabeth Thompson owned the pharmacy but her husband, Dello Buono, operated it – even though he was not allowed to be a provider under the Medicaid and Medicare benefit programs because his pharmacist license was previously suspended due to prior fraud. To circumvent that obstacle, Buono worked behind the scenes of the managing pharmacist at the pharmacy, Frank Bengermino, who possessed a valid pharmacist license. And then there was A.D. Amorisi, the launderer – no less important than the other three fraudsters. Someone must hide the money.
These fraudsters essentially pretended to fill prescriptions for expensive medications, while defrauding the Medicaid and Medicare programs of millions of dollars. Thompson, Buono, and Bengermino paid customers kickbacks to customers for bringing their prescriptions to the pharmacy. They then filed with Medicare and Medicaid, resulting in over $20 million in reimbursed claims.
They would also pay cash and pills to customers to entice them to sell back to the pharmacy the expensive medications that they had received – prescriptions such as Latuda, a medication used to treat schizophrenia and HIV medications which accounted for approximately 86 percent of the Broad Street Family Pharmacy’s billings to Medicaid, over a five-year period.
On May 30, 2025, A.D. Amorisi pleaded guilty for his part of the scheme. Although, his part was no less significant in a dangerous prescription drug scheme.
Great job by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “Veteran Philly Jouranlist A.D. Amorosi Pleads Guilty in Massive Medicare Fraud Scheme” published by Philadelphia Magazine on May 30, 2025.
The scheme centered around Broad Street Family Pharmacy in South Philadelphia. If you’ve been a regular reader of Philadelphia media outlets over the last few decades, you’ve probably encountered a story written by A.D. Amorosi. The longtime Philly scribe has contributed to the Inquirer, City Paper, Metro, and, yes, Philly Mag over the years. But now he finds himself the subject of news instead of the writer of it.
Amorosi, whose full name is Angelo Amorosi, just pleaded guilty to his role in a massive fraud scheme surrounding South Philadelphia’s Broad Street Family Pharmacy, which has been shuttered ever since law enforcement agents raided it in 2021. Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry announced charges against Amorosi and eight other Pennsylvania residents last December. The others charged included pharmacy owner Elizabeth Thompson, her husband Peter Dello Buono (who ran the pharmacy), and pharmacist Frank Bengermino.
