Nearly 50 people have been charged with participating in a major prescription drug diversion fraud ring that cost the Medicaid program tens of millions of dollars, NBC 4 New York has learned.
Dozens of people were arrested in New York, New Jersey and six other states Tuesday by the FBI Health Care Fraud Task Force on federal Medicaid fraud, wire fraud and mail fraud charges, law enforcement sources said. The task force includes investigators from the FBI, DEA, NYPD and other state and local agencies.
The individuals charged allegedly participated in a sophisticated scheme to buy legally prescribed medications from Medicaid recipients on street corners and in bodegas throughout the city, including the Bronx and Washington Heights.
Prosecutors say the scheme is potentially dangerous to unwitting consumers of the second-hand prescriptions because the bottles are sometimes treated with potentially hazardous chemicals during the relabeling process, usually stored in uncontrolled conditions and may have expired.
The suspects arrested in the New York-area were processed at the FBI’s offices in lower Manhattan.
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