Lucky Care Pharmacy, located at 37-20 Prince St.
March 17, 2021 By Christian Murray
A Brooklyn-based pharmacist with drug stores in Gravesend and Flushing has been indicted for ripping off Medicaid and Medicare in order pay for a luxury lifestyle that included the purchase of a 2020 Porsche.
Robert John Sabet, 44, was indicted in Brooklyn federal court Monday for healthcare fraud, paying kick backs and for spending his ill-gotten gains. He brought in millions of dollars through the fraudulent scheme, according to court records unsealed today.
Sabet, who owns Lucky Care Pharmacy in Flushing and Brooklyn Chemists in Gravesend, allegedly billed Medicare and Medicaid for expensive brand name drugs, yet in many instances did not dispense them or they were never prescribed to his customers in the first place.
He paid bogus customers cash, according to the indictment, in exchange for allowing him to bill their insurance through Medicaid and Medicare. His employees allegedly worked with him on the scheme, organizing illegal cash payments to his so-called customers.
“The defendant’s alleged participation in health care fraud, and his payment of kickbacks and bribes, corrupted the trusted relationship between pharmacies and patients, and potentially harmed the very people that the Medicare and Medicaid programs are intended to serve,” stated Acting U.S. Attorney DuCharme.
Sabet allegedly defrauded taxpayers, since Medicare and Medicaid are both government programs that cover the healthcare costs of seniors, the disabled and low income residents.
According to the court documents, he billed Medicare and Medicaid to the tune of $2 million in fraudulent claims via his Lucky Care Pharmacy between December 2019 and January 2021. Meanwhile, Brooklyn Chemists was paid more than $4 million by Medicaid between September 2016 and December 2020.
He used nearly $100,000 from his gains to buy his 2020 Porsche Taycan, according to court documents.
Sabet faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit health fraud; five years in prison for conspiracy to pay kickbacks and bribes; and 10 years in prison for unlawful spending.
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3 Comments
I’m sure there are a lot more who have been stealing from Medicare and Medicaid. Check out all of the russian pharmacies. I’m in Queens and have lived there my entire life and have never seen so many pop up as in the last 20+ years.
I am so disgusted and shocked to what they’re saying about me. When it is proven that all those prescriptions were in fact prescribed and dispensed, and that it wasn’t me who conspired to pay anybody kickbacks , and then what? Will DOJ say excuse me for leaving out all this info that proves this pharmacist whose served the public full time for 20 years as a pharmacist himself? Will they apologize for humiliating and defaming a healthcare professional who never intended to conspire these things? They can write so negatively of someone and then audaciously include that he’s innocent until proven guilty
That’s a very unfortunate thing to waste tax dollars. It should also at least be mentioned how the employees would all agree to such activity, especially the Pharmacist in Charge!