On September 9, 2016, Andrew Barrett, a New York pharmacist who operated pharmacies in Bronx, Queens, and Rockland counties, was sentenced to 43 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release.  As part of the sentence, he was ordered to forfeit $2.7 million in criminal proceeds, pay $2.7 million in restitution to Medicare and Medicaid, and pay $736,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.

On May 25, 2016, Barrett pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and filing false tax returns.  From January 2011 to December 2012, he fraudulently billed Medicare and Medicaid approximately $2.7 million for prescription medications that he never dispensed to patients.  Barrett used some of these proceeds to buy pharmaceutical products for his pharmacies. He also falsely claimed over $2 million in personal expenses as business expenses on his tax returns.  Through this scheme, he caused a tax loss of $736,192.80.

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