The co-owner and administrator of a pharmacy pleaded guilty to charges in a scheme that defrauded payers by more than $65 million, the Justice Department said Feb. 7.
Samuel "Sam" Khaimov, 52, co-owner of Prime Aid Pharmacies, and his wife, Yana Shtindler, 48, who was administrator of the specialty pharmacies, pleaded guilty to bribing physicians and falsifying records.
Mr. Khaimov and Ms. Shtindler operated pharmacies in New Jersey and New York, with the co-owner serving as the lead pharmacist at the New York location. The two defendants, alongside two others who have pleaded guilty to other charges, admitted to defrauding CMS and other payers between 2013 and 2017.
The Prime Aid "specialty pharmacies" billed for refills without dispensing the medications or ever having medicines stocked, according to the Justice Department. Ms. Shtindler said she told employees to falsify records during audits conducted by pharmacy benefit managers.
Sentencing is scheduled for June 13.