Today, a man from California has been sentenced to two years behind bars for his role in a scheme involving over $1 million in fake Medicare claims for prescription drugs that were never actually given to patients.
Court records reveal that 56-year-old Paul Mansour, residing in Sierra Madre, was a pharmacist and co-owner of Mansour Partners Inc., operating under the name Best Buy Drugs (Best Buy). Between January 2017 and July 2022, Mansour fabricated patient profiles within Best Buy’s pharmacy database using made-up names, birthdates, and addresses. He then added false prescriptions to these profiles and submitted deceitful claims to Medicare under the names of real Best Buy customers. This led to Mansour billing Medicare for prescriptions that were never actually dispensed to any beneficiaries.
Mansour pleaded guilty on April 5, 2023, to a single count of health care fraud.
The announcement was made by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, leading the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting Assistant Director in Charge Krysti Hawkins of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Timothy DeFrancesca of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Los Angeles Regional Office.
The Fraud Section spearheads the Criminal Division’s battle against health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this initiative, comprising nine strike forces across 27 federal districts, has brought charges against over 5,400 defendants, collectively accused of defrauding federal health care programs and private insurers of more than $27 billion. Additionally, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, in collaboration with HHS-OIG, are working to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes.