A Forest Hills pharmacist pleaded guilty this week to defrauding a pharmaceutical manufacturer of approximately $6.9 million by submitting fake claims to a coupon program run by the manufacturer, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York announced on Wednesday, Aug. 12.
Arkadiy Khaimov, 37, agreed to hand over around $489,000 of the profits he made through the scheme as part of his guilty plea to the mail and wire fraud charges he faced.
Khaimov, and several co-conspirators, hatched the plan around February 2017, when they began to submit fake claims for reimbursements through the unnamed pharmaceutical manufacturer’s co-pay program, according to acting U.S. Attorney Seth D. DuCharme. The co-pay coupon program offered financial rewards to pharmacists who ordered the manufacturer’s drug.
According to the charges, Khaimov ran the scheme for over a year, through July 2018.
In some cases, Khaimov and his pals used the credentials of a Nassau County-based physician to submit the fraudulent claims, according to the authorities.
The pharmacist never dispensed the drugs that he ordered, the criminal complaint said.
“With today’s guilty plea, Khaimov is held accountable for bilking a program designed to reduce the cost of prescription medicines so that he could line his own pockets with millions of dollars,” said DuCharme.
Khaimov faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the charges.
