Aug. 13, 2020 By Allie Griffin
A Queens pharmacist pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to fraud for swindling millions of dollars from a pharmaceutical manufacturer.
Arkadiy “Alex” Khaimov, who lives in Forest Hills, defrauded the manufacturer out of about $6.9 million by submitting false claims under its co-pay reimbursement program between February 2017 and July 2018, according to the indictment.
The unnamed manufacturer created the co-pay program to reimburse pharmacies for dispensing a prescription medication. Khaimov, 37, and his co-conspirators submitted the false claims to the program for medications that his pharmacies never actually dispensed.
In some cases, he fraudulently used the credentials of a Long Island physician to submit the claims.
Khaimov agreed to forfeit about $489,000, representing proceeds he earned from the scheme. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
““With today’s guilty plea, Khaimov is held accountable for bilking a program designed to reduce the cost of prescription medicines so that he could line his own pockets with millions of dollars,” Acting United States Attorney Seth DuCharme said.