November 28, 2023
A Philadelphia pharmacist has pled guilty to billing insurance providers over half a million dollars in fraudulent claims, state prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Ahmed Bachir, who owns and operates Aramingo Pharmacy in Port Richmond, allegedly billed providers, including Medicaid, $573,992 in phony prescriptions between 2019 and 2021. State investigators say Bachir, 32, and his pharmacy engaged in other "tactics to maximize profits," including requesting doctors to prescribe expensive and unnecessary medications, asking physicians to switch prescriptions to pricier alternatives and billing for brand-name drugs but dispensing generic medications. Aramingo also allegedly refilled certain drugs without informing the prescribed patients and then billed their providers.
"Pharmacists are trusted to perform essential duties to responsibly provide medicine that treats illness and keeps Pennsylvanians healthy," Attorney General Michelle Henry said in a statement. "In this case, Aramingo Pharmacy was more concerned with personal greed than patient care, using its authority to exploit health insurance providers. Any business or individual that attempts to defraud our healthcare system will be held accountable."
Bachir is now required to pay the insurance providers $573,992 in restitution, as well as $300,866 to the state's Bureau of Program Integrity, which is under the Department of Human Services. Bachir's pharmacist license will be suspended for five years, and he will be barred as a Medicaid provider for that same period.
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