Varian Scott, 35, of Miami, and Hezron Collie, 29, of Atlanta, have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and health care fraud in connection with a scheme to present forged prescriptions to pharmacies throughout the metro Atlanta area over an eight-month period, and causing the cost of the prescriptions - more than $1 million - to be billed to Georgia Medicaid.According to information presented in court: Between September 2005 and April 2006, Scott, Collie, and others known and unknown to the grand jury obtained blank doctors’ prescription pads from Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute - Collie’s former employer - and two other doctors.
The defendants allegedly obtained names, dates of birth, and Georgia Medicaid numbers of dozens of people, and allegedly forged multiple doctors’ prescriptions for Neupogen and related medications used to treat cancer and AIDS patients. The defendants then allegedly presented the forged prescriptions along with the patient information to CVS, Publix, Walgreens, Kroger, and Eckerd pharmacies throughout the Atlanta area.
Scott and Collie also allegedly recruited a pharmacy employee at least one of the pharmacies to facilitate the unlawful scheme. That employee is cooperating with authorities and pleaded guilty to related charges in Gwinnett County Superior Court on Jan. 13, 2009. The pharmacies billed approximately $1.1 million to Georgia Medicaid for the cost of the medications that Scott and Collie fraudulently acquired.The pharmacies and the doctors are cooperating in the investigation.
The indictment charges Scott and Collie with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and 20 counts of health care fraud.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 per count.
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