Three Brooklyn pharmacies — operated by a man convicted of scamming Medicaid in 2008 — were busted for bilking the health care system out of $5 million by billing for prescriptions that were never dispensed, authorities said Monday.
The most egregious was Perfect Gift Pharmacy in Brownsville, which showed a more than $3.5 million shortfall of drugs that were allegedly never sold to patients but billed to Medicaid anyway, according to an audit by state Attorney General Schneiderman.
Joseph Cepeda, one of the seven scammers arrested, is accused of funneling patients from a local doctor’s office to Perfect Gift Pharmacy, where clerk Chaudury M. Yaqoob would pay cash for the prescriptions. The pharmacy would then bill Medicaid even though prescriptions were never filled.
The scheme also took place at Princess Pharmacies in Bed-Stuy, which allegedly swindled $955,000, and Bright RX in Crown Heights, which pocketed $861,000, audits showed.
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