A Rego Park pharmacist was arrested Tuesday morning and charged with conspiring to accept kickbacks in a scam in which he allegedly helped conceal the processing of more than $30 million in fraudulent prescription claims, according to federal prosecutors.
An indictment was unsealed in Brooklyn federal court charging Bruce Snipas, the owner and pharmacist-in-charge of B&E Pharmaceuticals Inc., with conspiracy to make false statements in health care matters and conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback statute and other charges.
Snipas, 68, of West Islip, Long Island, was arraigned Tuesday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert M. Levy and he was released on $150,000 bond, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
As alleged in the indictment, from April 2015 to February 2018, Sipas conspired with a Florida-based health care company, known as the Health Care Company, to conceal that company’s involvement in processing more than $30 million in fraudulently obtained prescription claims by B&E from various health care programs, including New York Medicaid.
Snipas repeatedly made false claims to federal and state regulators and pharmacy boards concealing the Health Care Company’s involvement in the operations of B&E.
“As alleged, the defendant, a pharmacist and health care professional, engaged in a fraudulent scheme to take advantage of the Medicaid program and profit by accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said. “This office is committed to protecting the integrity of government programs, including health insurance programs like Medicaid that benefit the district’s most vulnerable residents.”
In exchange for assisting the Health Care Company in processing the prescriptions through B&E, Snipas received approximately $650,000 in kickbacks from the Heath Care Company, prosecutors said.
“Snipas, as alleged, received hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks while helping a health care company cover up their processing of fraudulent claims totaling more than $30 million,” FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Michael A. Driscoll said. “The FBI will continue our efforts to protect government-sponsored programs that exist to serve the interests of those within our community who need them most and private insurance programs that exist to serve the interests of those within our community who need them most and private insurance programs that are adversely affected by this type of fraud.”
