Four pharmacy owners have been sentenced for their roles in a conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud. Pharmacist Raef Hamaed, of Maricopa County, Arizona, was sentenced on Jan. 8 to 10 years in prison; pharmacist Tarek Fakhuri, of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, was sentenced on Jan. 13 to seven years in prison; pharmacist Ali Abdelrazzaq, of Macomb County, Michigan, was sentenced on Jan. 15 to two years in prison; and pharmacist Kindy Ghussin, of Greene County, Ohio, was sentenced today to five years and five months in prison. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Hamaed, Fakhuri, Ghussin, and Abdelrazzaq billed Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan for prescription medications that they did not dispense at five pharmacies they owned and operated: Eastside Pharmacy, Harper Drugs, and Wayne Campus Pharmacy in Michigan, and Heartland Pharmacy and Heartland Pharmacy 2 in Ohio. The defendants collectively caused over $13 million of loss to Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
