A Forest Hills man will spend more than four years behind bars for defrauding a pharmaceutical manufacturer out of more than $7 million, according to federal prosecutors.
Arkadiy Khaimov, 39, was sentenced in a Long Island courtroom Thursday to 51 months in prison for submitting fraudulent claims under the manufacturer’s pharmacy coupon program which is meant to defray the cost of expensive prescription drugs.
U.S. District Judge Joan Azrack also ordered Khaimov to forfeit approximately $489,000 in proceeds involved in the fraudulent scheme and pay restitution of around $7.2 million.
Khaimov pleaded guilty in August to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. The pharma manufacturer referred to in the indictment as “John Doe Company 1” established the Co-pay Coupon Program to reimburse pharmacies for dispensing a prescription medication, which was described as a “price breakthrough” and potential “cure” for a serious and possibly deadly disease.
“Khaimov stole from a program that was intended to reduce the cost of medication to uninsured individuals and those in need of financial assistance, who are suffering from serious and potentially life-threatening disease,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said. “Today’s sentence sends a message that incarceration and significant financial penalties are the criminal justice system’s remedies for those who would abuse such beneficial programs to benefit themselves.”
Between 2017 and 2018, Khaimov and his co-conspirators submitted reimbursements for medication that the pharmacies never actually dispensed. In some cases, Khaimov, who goes by the name Alex, and his co-conspirators used the computers in the pharmacies they operated in Queens and Manhattan to submit fraudulent claims for reimbursements under the program and fraudulently used the credentials of a Nassau County-based physician to submit the false claims. Prosecutors did not name the co-conspirators.
