September 13, 2010
A long-time Codman Square pharmacist was convicted on Monday of Medicaid fraud, federal officials said.
Amadiegwu “Joe” Onujiogu, 63, pleaded guilty before a U.S. District judge on Monday to a conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 16. He is facing ten years in prison, as well as three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.
Onujiogu, a Randolph resident, owned a Codman Square pharmacy on Washington St. for 20 years. The store shut down after he was indicted in Aug. 2009 by a grand jury.
He was charged with paying a percentage to customers to bring prescriptions to his pharmacy and then not giving them the medication, while submitting paperwork to collect funds from Medicaid.
“Customers who participated regularly in this prescription purchasing scheme were typically individuals suffering from HIV/AIDS and/or psychiatric disorders such as depression and bi-polar disorder,” U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz’s office said in a release. “Many of these individuals were drug addicted, and some were homeless. These customers were encouraged by Onujiogu to bring their prescriptions to the pharmacy and sell them for cash.”
Federal prosecutors said that Medicaid paid at least $292,000 and Medicare paid at least $60,000 to the pharmacy for the fraudulently billed prescriptions.
EARLIER: Codman Square pharmacist charged with Medicaid fraud.
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