CAMDEN, N.J. – A federal grand jury today returned a five-count indictment charging a Gloucester County, New Jersey, man with defrauding his employer’s health insurance plan out of more than $4 million by submitting fraudulent claims for medically unnecessary compounded medications, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced today.
Christopher Gualtieri, 48, of Franklinville, New Jersey, is charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and mail fraud and individual acts of mail fraud. Gualtieri was also charged with making false statements to federal agents during the investigation, as well as preparing and filling fraudulent oxycodone prescriptions. Gualtieri is scheduled to appear today by videoconference before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sharon A. King. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler in Camden.
According to the indictment:
Compounded medications are specialty medications mixed by a pharmacist to meet the specific medical needs of an individual patient. Compounded drugs can be properly prescribed when a physician determines that an FDA-approved medication does not meet the health needs of a particular patient, such as if a patient is allergic to a dye or other ingredient.
Gualtieri and others learned that certain compound medication prescriptions – including vitamins, scar creams, pain creams, and sunscreens – were reimbursed by their health insurance plan for up to thousands of dollars for a one-month supply. Gualtieri recruited co-workers who were covered by their employer’s self-funded health insurance plan to agree to receive medically unnecessary compounded medications for themselves and their family members. Gualtieri and others caused the submission of fraudulent prescriptions to compounding pharmacies, which filled the prescriptions and billed the health insurance plan’s pharmacy benefits administrator. The pharmacy benefits administrator paid the compounding pharmacies more than $4 million for compounded medications arranged by Gualtieri and two conspirators for themselves, their dependents, and other family members. Gualtieri received a portion of the amount paid by the pharmacy benefits administrator to the compounding pharmacies. Gualtieri then paid cash and other remuneration to his conspirators for their participation in the scheme. When questioned by special agents of the FBI, Gualtieri falsely denied recruiting others to receive compounded medications and falsely denied paying cash to others for their participation in the scheme.
During the same time period as the conspiracy involving compounded medications, Gualtieri also prepared and filled fraudulent prescriptions for oxycodone for himself and a family member.
Gualtieri faces a maximum penalty on the conspiracy and mail fraud counts of 20 years in prison, a maximum penalty on the false statements count of five years in prison, and a maximum penalty on the obtaining drugs by fraud count of four years in prison. He also faces a fine on each count of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or gross loss from the offense, whichever is greatest.
Acting U.S. Attorney Honig credited agents of the FBI, Philadelphia Field Office, Health Care Fraud Task Force, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Bradley S. Benavides, and task force members from the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General, and the Philadelphia Police Department, as well as diversion investigators of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New Jersey Division, Camden Resident Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Susan A. Gibson, with the investigation leading to the indictment. Acting U.S. Attorney Honig also thanked U.S. Postal Service – Office of Inspector General, for their assistance in the investigation.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Bender of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Camden.
The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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