Pharmacy Owner and Technician Sentenced for Falsifying Audit Documents and Submitting Fraudulent Claims

The owner of a pharmacy and a pharmacy technician were sentenced today for their roles in a scheme that involved submitting fraudulent claims and materially false documents to health care benefit programs. 

According to court documents and statements made in court, Kirtan S. Patel, 34, of Allentown, New Jersey, and a lawful permanent resident originally from India, owned a pharmacy in Jersey City, New Jersey. In November 2020, Patel caused falsified documents to be submitted to a health insurance company in response to an audit. These documents falsely represented that medical providers had authorized certain prescriptions when they had not. Patel also submitted fraudulent prescription pick-up records that falsely represented that certain customers of the pharmacy had picked up prescriptions when they had not.  

During the scheme, Patel sent text messages to a friend describing how Patel “bill[ed] around 8-10k every month to [his own] insurance” and did not “take any medications so that’s basically free money[.]” Patel also described how he plied doctors with trips to “strip clubs,” “night clubs,” and “cash” to keep them “as corrupt as possible.” In total, Patel caused over $620,000 in losses to health insurance companies.  Patel was sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay over $620,000 in restitution and $620,000 in forfeiture. 

According to court documents and statements made in in court, Christopher Lugo, 36, of Jersey City, New Jersey, was a pharmacy technician at the pharmacy owned by Patel.  In January 2020, Lugo submitted, or caused the submission of, a fraudulent claim to his own health insurer for a drug that he was not prescribed and was not dispensed.  In total, Lugo caused over $565,000 in losses to health insurance companies and Medicare. Lugo was sentenced to 24 months in prison and ordered to pay over $565,000 in restitution. 

In April 2025, Patel pleaded guilty to making false statements relating to health care matters, and Lugo pleaded guilty to health care fraud. 

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