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Clinton Pharmacist Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud
Jackson, Miss. – Marco Bisa Hawkins Moran, 45, of Clinton, Mississippi, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett to 120 months in federal prison followed by 3 years of supervised release for conspiring to commit health care fraud, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca, Special Agent in Charge Michelle Sutphin of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Mississippi, Acting Special Agent in Charge Andrew M. Thornton of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Special Agent in Charge Cynthia Bruce of Defense Criminal Investigative Services (DCIS) Southeast Field Office, and Director Steven Maxwell of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics (MBN).
Moran was also ordered to pay a monetary judgment of $12,195,740, restitution in the amount of $22,096,697, and a $20,000 fine.
Between 2014 and 2016, Moran, as co-owner of Medworx Compounding and Custom Care Pharmacy, participated in a scheme to defraud TRICARE and other health care benefit programs, including those that provided coverage to employees of the City of Jackson, Mississippi. In total, the pharmacies submitted $22,068,144 in fraudulent claims to Tricare and other health care benefit programs. As part of the scheme, Moran and his co-conspirators, among other things, adjusted prescription formulas to ensure the highest reimbursement, paid marketers and physicians kickbacks and bribes to obtain prescriptions for high-yield compounded medications irrespective of whether they were medically necessary, and routinely waived and/or reduced the collection of copayments.
Moran was charged in a Criminal Information and pled guilty before Judge Starrett on September 13, 2018.
The FBI’s Jackson Field Office investigated the case with assistance from the IRS-CI, DCIS, and MBN. Principal Assistant Deputy Chief Dustin M. Davis and Trial Attorney Sara E. Porter of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathlyn R. Van Buskirk of the Southern District of Mississippi prosecuted the case.
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