N.J. Pharmacist Sentenced to 3 Years in State Prison for Admitting to Medicaid Fraud

New Jersey Attorney General Peter Harvey announced that a Union County pharmacist has been sentenced to three years in state prison after reportedly admitting to devising a scheme wherein he submitted more than $100,000 in prescription reimbursements to the Medicaid Program.

According to Vaughn McKoy, director, Division of Criminal Justice and Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden Brown, Steven Aberbach, 59, of Watchung, Somerset County, was sentenced by Union County Superior Court Judge James Heimlich to three years in state prison and ordered to pay more than $210,000 in restitution to the Medicaid Program, fines and court costs.

Brown noted that Aberbach, the former owner and pharmacist of Springfield Pharmacy, 234 Mountain Ave., Springfield, Union County, pleaded guilty on Dec. 19, 2003 to charges of Health Care Claims Fraud.

In pleading guilty to the criminal Accusation, Aberbach reportedly admitted that from August, 2001 through June, 2003, he submitted more than 100 fraudulent billings for reimbursement for prescriptions purportedly issued to patients enrolled in the Medicaid Program.

The accusation also charged that Aberbach fraudulently used account numbers and identifications of legitimate Medicaid patients to whom no medications were prescribed or dispensed.