Sunset Park

Sunset Park pharmacy owners arrested in $26M health care fraud scheme

May 3, 2023 Rob Abruzzese
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A federal indictment was unsealed Tuesday that charged Brooklyn pharmacy owners Taesung “Terry” Kim and Dacheng “Bruce” Lu with participating in a $26 million health care fraud scheme.

The pair allegedly submitted false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid for medically unnecessary prescriptions and over-the-counter products that were not dispensed, paid illegal kickbacks and bribes, and laundered the proceeds of their scheme.

Both defendants were arrested this morning and are scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon before Magistrate Judge Cheryl Pollak.

According to court filings, Kim and Lu owned and operated four pharmacies: two in Brooklyn and two in Queens. Between January 2015 and December 2022, they allegedly conspired with others to submit false claims to Medicare and Medicaid for pharmaceutical and over-the-counter products that were medically unnecessary, procured through kickbacks and bribes, or not provided.

Two owners of two Brooklyn pharmacies, the Huikang Pharmacy, located at 6410 8th Avenue and the 888 Pharmacy located at 4821 8th Avenue, were indicted on Tuesday on charges that they participated in a $26 million health care fraud scheme. Screenshot via Google Earth.

They are also accused of paying illegal kickbacks and bribes in the form of cash, supermarket gift certificates, rent, and office staff to Medicare beneficiaries, Medicaid recipients and doctors.

The defendants allegedly laundered the proceeds of their fraud through shell entities to generate cash for their personal profit and to pay pharmacy customers as kickbacks. As part of the scheme, Kim and Lu’s pharmacies submitted approximately $26 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid

If convicted, the defendants each face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit health care fraud, 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering, and five years in prison for conspiracy to pay illegal health care kickbacks and bribes.

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