HOUSTON – Justice has been served for a Houston pharmacy owner who was found guilty of medicare fraud that resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars.
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According to the U.S. Dept. of Justice Southern District of Texas, Mohamad Mokbel, 59, was the owner of a company called 4M Pharmaceuticals, which from 2014 through 2021, operated 14 pharmacies with what prosecutors described as “straw owners.”
The pharmaceutical company essentially functioned as an outbound telemarketing call center that solicited Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial insurance patients nationwide – many over the age of 55.
A previous indictment from 2021, claims the call center employees offered patients medically, unnecessary diabetic supplies and topical creams, although many refused the solicitations. However, 4M Pharmaceuticals and pharmacies allegedly billed the patient’s insurance plan anyway. In some cases, 4M pharmacies billed for prescriptions dispensed after a patient’s death.
The scheme also targeted doctors, where investigators said 4M Pharmaceuticals sent fax requests for prescriptions that patients often did not authorize. In several cases, the company billed patients for prescription drugs without a valid prescription. Court documents also claimed that 4M pharmacies also sent prescription requests to doctors for dead patients.
Mokbel pocketed over $200 million as a result of the scheme.
From 2015 through 2020, prosecutors said Mokbel also paid a total of $188,000 in bribes to an unidentified pharmacy benefits manager at OptumpRX “in exchange for favorable treatment for 4M pharmacies.”
The 59-year-old was found guilty by a verdict and a district judge set sentencing for January 7, 2025. Mokbel faces up to 20 years for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and health care fraud, 10 years for each of five counts of health care fraud, each of six counts of money laundering, and one count of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds as well as 5 years for conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute and conspiracy to commit bribery. He could also be ordered to pay up to a total of $4 million in fines and potential restitution exceeding $160 million.