Health Care Fraud: Jason Cerge Pleaded Guilty For Defrauding TRICARE – a Health Insurance Program For Members of The Military

FraudsWatch.com
Pharmaceutical Employee Admits Scheme To Defraud Military Health Insurance Program

<h2>Pharmaceutical Employee Admits Scheme To Defraud Military Health Insurance Program<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>NEWARK&comma; N&period;J&period; – A Media&comma; Pennsylvania&comma; man today admitted defrauding TRICARE – a health insurance program for members of the military and their families – by submitting fraudulent claims for medically unnecessary prescriptions&comma; Acting U&period;S&period; Attorney William E&period; Fitzpatrick announced&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Jason Cerge&comma; 41&comma; a pharmaceutical sales representative&comma; pleaded guilty before U&period;S&period; District Judge John Michael Vazquez in Newark federal court to an information charging him with conspiracy to commit health care fraud&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Cerge admitted that from September 2014 through May 2015&comma; he participated in a scheme to defraud TRICARE by knowingly submitting fraudulent claims for medically unnecessary prescription compounded medications – including scar creams&comma; pain creams&comma; and metabolic supplements – that were marketed by an entity referred to in the information as &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Company A&period;” The conspirators knew that TRICARE reimbursed pharmacies between &dollar;2&comma;500 and &dollar;18&comma;800 for each of these compounded medications&period; The conspirators entered into agreements with certain compounding pharmacies nationwide to receive a percentage of the amount reimbursed for each prescription diverted to that pharmacy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Cerge was recruited into the scheme by Peter Pappas&comma; 45&comma; of Drexel Hill&comma; Pennsylvania&period; Cerge then recruited a former member of the U&period;S&period; <a class&equals;"wpil&lowbar;keyword&lowbar;link" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;category&sol;military-scammer&sol;" title&equals;"military" data-wpil-keyword-link&equals;"linked" data-wpil-monitor-id&equals;"387">military<&sol;a>&comma; a conspirator identified in the information as &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;CC-2&comma;” to approach other members of the military and their families&period; CC-2 paid cash bribes to TRICARE beneficiaries in exchange for their TRICARE information and agreement to receive medically unnecessary prescription compounded medications&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Cerge placed these TRICARE beneficiaries’ information onto preprinted prescription forms and presented them to a New Jersey physician for a signature&period; Cerge knew that the physician would immediately sign the prescriptions without examining or speaking with the patients&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Afterwards&comma; the prescriptions were faxed to certain compounding pharmacies associated with Company A who would bill TRICARE for the medication&period; These compounding pharmacies then paid Company A a percentage of each prescription paid by TRICARE&comma; which was then distributed to Cerge and other members of the conspiracy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As part of his plea agreement&comma; Cerge must forfeit &dollar;12&comma;816&period;24 in criminal proceeds he received for his role in the scheme and pay restitution of at least &dollar;204&comma;198&period;11&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Cerge faces a statutory maximum term of 10 years in prison and a &dollar;250&comma;000 fine&comma; or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense&period; Sentencing is scheduled for Jan&period; 30&comma; 2018&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Three other defendants – Peter Pappas&comma; Stephanie Naar&comma; and Julie Andresen – have pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme and await sentencing&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Acting U&period;S&period; Attorney Fitzpatrick credited special agents of the FBI&comma; under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher in Newark&semi; and the U&period;S&period; Department of Defense&comma; Office of the Inspector General&comma; Defense Criminal Investigative Service&comma; under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Leigh-Alistair Barzey&comma; with the ongoing investigation leading to the guilty plea&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The government is represented by Assistant U&period;S&period; Attorney Erica Liu of the United States Attorney’s Office Health Care and Government Fraud Unit in Newark&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The New Jersey U&period;S&period; Attorney’s Office reorganized its health care practice in 2010 and created a stand-alone Health Care and Government Fraud Unit to handle both criminal and civil investigations and prosecutions of health care fraud offenses&period; Since that time&comma; the office has recovered more than &dollar;1&period;36 billion in health care fraud and government fraud settlements&comma; judgments&comma; fines&comma; restitution and forfeiture under the False Claims Act&comma; the Food&comma; Drug and Cosmetic Act and other statutes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Defense counsel&colon; Scott Godshall Esq&period;&comma; Media&comma; Pennsylvania<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;usao-nj&sol;pr&sol;pharmaceutical-employee-admits-scheme-defraud-military-health-insurance-program">Original PressReleases&&num;8230&semi;<&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;

Share This Article
Follow:
FraudsWatch is а site reporting on fraud and scammers on internet, in financial services and personal. Providing a daily news service publishes articles contributed by experts; is widely reported in thе latest compliance requirements, and offers very broad coverage of thе latest online theft cases, pending investigations and threats of fraud.
Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Exit mobile version