The employee of a Jersey City, New Jersey, doctor admitted her role in a multimillion-dollar conspiracy to solicit and receive kickbacks and bribes from individuals associated with a Union City, New Jersey pharmacy. Yudelka “Vicky” Ayala, 42, of Jersey City, New Jersey, pleaded guilty by videoconference to an information charging her with conspiring to violate the federal anti-kickback statute. According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court: Ayala worked at a doctor’s office in Jersey City and developed a long-standing and illegal kickback relationship with several individuals associated with the Prime Aid Pharmacies — now closed — which operated as “specialty pharmacies” in Union City, New Jersey, and Bronx, New York. As “specialty pharmacies,” they processed expensive medications used to treat various conditions, including Hepatitis C, Crohn’s disease, and rheumatoid arthritis. In order to obtain a higher volume of prescriptions from the doctor’s office where Ayala worked, Prime Aid employees paid Ayala kickbacks and bribes to induce her to steer prescriptions to Prime Aid Union City. From 2008 to August 2017, these bribes included expensive meals, designer bags, and payments by cash, check, and wire transfers. In total, Ayala accepted bribes and kickbacks totaling at least $219,060. The prescriptions that were steered to Prime Aid Union City as part of the scheme resulted in Medicare and Medicaid payments to the pharmacy of approximately $24.8 million.
