By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A Harlem pharmacist who allegedly scammed $1.8 million in a Medicaid fraud scheme was indicted on grand larceny and other charges, prosecutors said Thursday.
Pharmacist Patrick Alcindor, 41, was over-billing Medicaid between April 2009 and March 2010 at Procare pharmacy at 1728 Amsterdam Avenue, prosecutors said. Undercover police offers discovered the operation.
Alcindor was caught "procuring prescriptions from Medicaid clients in exchange for cash" and "billing Medicaid as if the prescriptions had been filled," prosecutors said.
"In fact, the pharmacy never had the medications in stock," according to a release from the Manhattan DA.
Alcindor "tried to game the system by fraudulently billing Medicaid for claims for prescription drugs that he never dispensed, and then helping himself to the payments,” said Manhattan DA Cy Vance Jr. said.
Alcindor, 42, was arraigned on charges of grand larceny and criminal diversion of prescription drugs in Manhattan Supreme Court on Thursday. He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
