2 Pharmacy Owners Arrested

RedNova News
2005/07/27

BURBANK — A Burbank pharmacy’s co-owners were arrested Tuesday on
suspicion of defrauding the state’s Medi-Cal system out of more than
$375,000.

Sofik Nazarian, 47, and Vrej Oganesian, 40, who worked at The Best
Pharmacy and Medical Supply on Glenoaks Boulevard, are accused of
billing Medi-Cal for prescription drugs that were not delivered to
patients.

“The defendants turned upside down the age-old Robin Hood story:
instead of stealing from the rich to provide to the poor, Nazarian and
Oganesian fleeced a program that serves as the only source of health
care for the poorest of the poor in order to feed their own greed,”
said Collin Wong-Martinusen, the director of the state Attorney
General’s Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse.

State Justice Department agents and officials from the state Health
Services Department made the arrests Tuesday morning as the men
approached the storefront pharmacy, officials said.

The two were booked into Los Angeles County jail on suspicion of theft
and were being held in lieu of $50,000 bail each. They are expected to
have their first court hearing today.

The arrests follow an announcement by California Attorney General Bill
Lockyer that his department will crack down on Medi-Cal fraud. Lockyer
announced a $1,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of
providers of health care services and goods who defraud the system.

“This is a triple crime,” said Lockyer in a statement. “The money
could be used for people who are truly ill and count on Medi-Cal as
their only source of health care. Second, people are getting medical
procedures they don’t need and putting themselves at risk. And
taxpayers’ money is being wasted at a time when the need is great and
dollars are precious.”

The state’s $34 billion Medi-Cal program, the second-largest
expenditure in the state budget, underwrites the health care expenses
of more than 6 million low-income adults, children and disabled
persons.

Anyone with information about scams is asked to call the Attorney
General’s Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud & Elder Abuse Hotline at (800)
722-0432 or the Department of Health Services at (800) 822-6222. Tips
can also be filed online at

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