A Florida Pharmacist was convicted and sentenced to ten years in prison followed by three years supervised release for his role in a compounding pharmacy fraud scheme that affected private insurance companies, Medicare and TRICARE.

Ademola O. Adebayo of Odessa, Florida was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, three counts of health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was ordered to pay $3.2 million in restitution and $1.4 million in forfeiture. Eight other individuals were previously sentenced in connection with the scheme.

According to evidence presented at trial, between 2012 and 2015 Adebayo and others engaged in a scheme to defraud private insurance companies, Medicare and TRICARE out of $121 million by submitting false and fraudulent claims for compounded drugs such as pain and scar creams and other prescription medications that were not medically necessary or never provided, or both.

He was a pharmacist at A to Z pharmacy in New Port Richey, Florida. It is no longer in operation. As the pharmacist there he would submit or cause the submission of claims that could amount to several thousand dollars for a single tube of pain or scar cream.

According to the Department of Justice, when insurance companies discovered the scheme in 2014 and terminated their contracts with A to Z pharmacy, Adebayo became the straw owner of Havana Pharmacy & Discount in Miami, Florida. He and his co-conspirators then used that pharmacy to continue the scheme.

Evidence shows Adebayo personally benefited and received $1.5 million through the fraud. He purchased several luxury vehicles and a house which were seized.

Other defendants in the scheme were given various sentences between probation and up to fifteen years in prison.

The case was investigated by the FBI with support from The United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) and the U.S. Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force under the supervision of the criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.

Since the Medicare Fraud Strike force began in 2007 they have charged almost 4,000 defendants who collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $14 billion.

Read more from the Department of Justice.