A Florida pharmacy owner was sentenced to 14 years in prison over his role in a $174 million fraud scheme, the Justice Department said May 18.
Peter Bolos, 44, was convicted of 22 counts of mail fraud, conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and introduction of a misbranded drug into interstate commerce in December 2021.
He and several co-conspirators deceived pharmacy benefit managers about at least 60,000 prescriptions between May 2015 and April 2018, tricking them into authorizing fraudulent claims worth more than $174 million that insurers paid to pharmacies controlled by the co-conspirators.
Many of the prescriptions were unnecessary and typically for drugs such as scar creams, pain creams and vitamins that Mr. Bolos knew he could submit for highly profitable reimbursements, according to the Justice Department. Mr. Bolos also used illegal means to hide his activity from the pharmacy benefit managers.
Mr. Bolos was also ordered to pay $24.6 million in restitution and $2.5 million in forfeiture costs.
His co-defendant, Michael Palso, 48, was sentenced to 33 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $24.6 million in restitution. Fourteen other defendants have pleaded guilty in cases related to the fraud scheme and are scheduled to be sentenced later this week.