Multiple individuals have been sentenced in a conspiracy involving kickbacks for prescription referrals, as announced by U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. The defendants, John Ageudo Rodriguez, Mohammad Imtiaz Chowdhury, Hector de la Cruz Jr., and Alex Flores Jr., all from Texas, had previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme.
U.S. District Judge Randy Crane sentenced Rodriguez to 60 months in federal prison. De La Cruz and Flores received 46-month sentences, while Chowdhury was sentenced to 30 months. Each defendant will also serve three years of supervised release after completing their prison terms.
Rodriguez, a former licensed pharmacist who owned Pharr Family Pharmacy, collaborated with several marketers including Chowdhury, De La Cruz, and Flores. They paid kickbacks to medical providers for referring prescriptions to his pharmacy. Rodriguez then submitted claims totaling over $110 million to various federal health care programs from 2014 to 2016.
"Illegal kickbacks are the engine that drives health care fraud," stated Ganjei. "Our office will aggressively pursue fraud, waste, and abuse that cost taxpayers millions, if not billions, every year."
The convicted individuals were allowed to remain on bond and will voluntarily surrender to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility at a later date.
The investigation was conducted by multiple agencies including the U.S. Postal Service-Office of Inspector General (OIG), Department of Labor-OIG, FBI, Department of Defense-Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Department of Veteran Affairs-OIG, Department of Health and Human Services-OIG and Texas Health and Human Services-OIG. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Swartz prosecuted the case.