A federal jury in Los Angeles, California found a pharmacy owner guilty for her role in a Medicare fraud scheme involving more than $1.3 million in fraudulent claims for prescription drugs.
Tamar Tatarian, 39, a Pasadena pharmacy owner, was sentenced to four years behind bars for running the Medicare fraud scheme. She was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John F. Walter, who also ordered her to pay $1.5 million in restitution to Medicare. Tatarian was convicted of one count of healthcare fraud and two counts of wire fraud following a four-day jury trial.
The jury found that from October 2015 through October 2017, the owner of Akhtamar Pharmacy engaged in a scheme that involved submitting fraudulent claims to Medicare Part D plan sponsors for prescription drugs that the pharmacy never ordered from wholesalers, and thus never dispensed to Medicare beneficiaries. (Like so many fraudsters, Tatarian thought she was smart enough to elude detection.)
Tatarian attempted to conceal the fraud by creating fake invoices, reflecting wholesale drug purchases by Akhtamar Pharmacy that never occurred. In other words, no drugs were purchased and none dispensed to patients. (As Mahatma Gandhi said, “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s — or woman’s — needs, but not every man’s greed.”)
Today’s “Fraud of the Day” is based on an article, “Pasadena Pharmacy Owner Sentenced to 4 Years for Medicare Fraud Scheme,” posted on NBCLosAngeles.com on February 25, 2019.
A Pasadena pharmacy owner was sentenced Monday to four years behind bars for running a Medicare fraud scheme involving more than $1.3 million in phony claims for prescription drugs.
Tamar Tatarian, 39, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John F. Walter, who also ordered her to pay $1.5 million in restitution to Medicare.
