A couple was charged with health care fraud Thursday in a 17-count indictment, the Department of Justice said.
Kwasi Gyambibi, 40, of Stamford, and Kakra Gyambibi, 37, formerly of New Canaan and currently livingt in Maryland, were charged with multiple fraud offenses, the DOJ said.
Kwasi Gyambib was arrested Thursday morning in Stamford and arraigned that same day. He entered not guilty pleas to the charges and was released on bond.
His wife, Kakra Gyambibi, is expected in federal court Monday.
Kwasi Gyambibi was formerly employed by the State of Connecticut and worked at UConn-Stamford. Kakra Gyambibi is a physician who worked at Stamford Hospital.
The husband and wife engaged in a scheme to defraud the State of Connecticut Pharmacy Benefit Plan, Tricare and other health care programs by submitting prescriptions for compound pharmacy medications prepared and dispensed by Advantage Pharmacy, the DOJ charge.
The prescriptions were signed by Kakra Gyambibi, the DOJ said. She did not treat, examine or even meet with the patients the prescriptions were written for.
“Based on these false and misleading claims, the victim health care programs paid Advantage Pharmacy for the compound prescription drugs,” the DOJ said. “Advantage Pharmacy, in tum, paid commissions of between 15 percent to 25 percent to sales representatives, including Kwasi Gyambibi’s cousin.”
Advantage Pharmacy, located in Mississippi, creates compound prescription drugs tailored for patients by mixing together individual ingredients in the strength and dosage prescribed by a health care provider.
Kwasi Gyambibi acted as, and eventually became, a sales representative for the pharmacy.
“It is alleged that the scheme resulted in more than $1.5 million in losses to the victim health care programs,” the DOJ said.
The indictment charges each defendant with 16 counts of health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Each of the counts carries a maximum term of 10 years in prison.
Article source: https://www.ctpost.com/local/article/DOJ-Husband-wife-charged-with-health-care-fraud-13038608.php