Maricopa County pharmacist among 4 sentenced in fraud conspiracy

PHOENIX — A Maricopa County pharmacist was among four people sentenced for their roles in a $13 million conspiracy to defraud Medicare, Medicaid and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, authorities said.

Raef Hamaed was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Jan. 8, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

He and his co-conspirators plotted to bill the three insurance providers for prescription medications they didn’t dispense, authorities said.

Three other pharmacists were involved in this conspiracy: Tarek Fakhuri of Canada, Ali Abdelrazzaq of Michigan and Kindy Ghussin of Ohio, according to the DOJ.

Why was Maricopa County pharmacists sentenced to 10 years in prison?

Although Hamaed is from Arizona, he wasn’t found guilty of defrauding any local pharmacies. In fact, he conspired to defraud five pharmacies across Michigan and Ohio, the DOJ said.

• Eastside Pharmacy in Michigan.
• Harper Drugs in Michigan.
• Wayne Campus Pharmacy in Michigan.
• Heartland Pharmacy in Ohio.
• Heartland Pharmacy 2 in Ohio.

Hamaed’s involvement was the most far-reaching of the foursome. He conspired to commit fraud at all five of the involved pharmacies, while his co-conspirators conspired to involve either one or three of the involved pharmacies, according to the DOJ.

The fraud conspiracy cost Medicare, Medicaid and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan over $13 million in losses.

Other pharmacists sentenced in health care fraud conspiracy

Hamaed, Fakhuri, Abdelrazzaq and Ghussin were convicted of conspiring to commit health care fraud and wire fraud on Sept. 5, the DOJ said. The jury also convicted Fakhuri of one count of health care fraud.

After Hamaed, the second highest sentence was handed down to Fakhuri, who was sentenced for his role in the conspiracy to commit fraud at three of the pharmacies. He received a 7-year prison sentence.

Ghussin also was sentenced for conspiring to commit fraud at three of the pharmacies, but he got a sentence of 5 years and 5 months.

Abdelrazzaq was sentenced to 2 years in prison for conspiring to commit fraud at only one pharmacy: Wayne Campus Pharmacy.

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