Hafizullah Ebady, a 45-year-old resident of Parsippany, New Jersey, has admitted his involvement in a vast global scheme involving healthcare fraud and money laundering. The announcement was made by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York.
Ebady’s co-defendants, Joshua Manuel Alegria, David Gary Bishoff, Brycen Kay Millett, Dela Saidazim, Anthony Santamaria, and Hershel Tsikman, have also admitted their guilt.
According to the department, Brian Sutton, the alleged leader who is a U.S. citizen residing in Russia, is still at large.
Between 2017 and 2022, Ebady and his co-defendants orchestrated an intricate scheme that revolved around acquiring pharmacies across the United States. These pharmacies were situated in various locations, such as New York, New Jersey, Texas, and Michigan. The Department highlighted the complexity of their activities.
Under Sutton’s leadership, the defendants operated a network of pharmacies and call centers. Their main objective was to create fraudulent prescriptions by misleading individuals into believing that they needed unnecessary medications.
The defendants, led by Sutton, reportedly utilized pharmacies and call centers to generate prescriptions. They would convince individuals to accept medications that were not medically necessary.
Ebady was responsible for overseeing the acquisition and day-to-day functioning of multiple pharmacies involved in the fraudulent scheme, as stated by the department. The defendants procured pharmacies that already had established connections with private health insurance companies.
Under Sutton’s guidance, the co-conspirators ran call centers that were initially located in Utah but later relocated to Russia and other foreign countries, as stated by the department.
Call center employees have been contacting individuals enrolled in private insurance plans, providing them with prescription medications at minimal or no cost. Surprisingly, these medications are often offered without any medical examination to determine if they are necessary for the beneficiaries.
The department mentioned that the defendants also enlisted doctors to authorize prescriptions, often without conducting any telemedicine visits.
The co-conspirators created fake prescriptions using the names and National Provider Identifier numbers of the physicians. Unfortunately, a number of beneficiaries did not actually receive the medications as prescribed.
According to the department, private insurers were forced to pay out more than $500 million due to fraudulent billing.
Ebady could potentially be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison. Additionally, they may be required to pay restitution of more than $195 million and forfeit over $1.8 million.
It is important to note that the accusations against Sutton are only allegations, and he is considered innocent until proven guilty.
“Using aliases, shell companies and straw owners, moving their operations overseas, and laundering millions of dollars through foreign countries, the defendants conducted a sophisticated, multi-faceted scheme, employing scores in call centers and remote billing teams to line their pockets to the tune of more than a billion dollars,” said Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in statement.
