New Jersey pharmacy employee admits to multi-million kickback and bribery scheme

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A pharmacy employee admitted conspiring to offer and pay bribes and kickbacks in exchange for having prescriptions steered to the Morris County, New Jersey, pharmacy where he worked.

Srinivasa Raju, 51, of Haskell, New Jersey, pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp to an information charging him with conspiring to violate the federal anti-kickback statute. The U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger announced the guilty plea December 22, 2022 press release.

Magdalena Jimenez, 58, of Newark, previously pleaded guilty to a parallel bribery and kickback scheme involving the same pharmacy.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Raju had various responsibilities at the Morris County pharmacy, including coordinating prescription deliveries and soliciting business.

From January 2019 through February 2021, Raju worked with other pharmacy personnel to pay kickbacks and bribes to medical employees in two different doctors’ offices in Jersey City, New Jersey. In exchange, those employees steered numerous, high-value prescriptions to the pharmacy where Raju worked, the press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Raju and his conspirators paid as much as $150 for each prescription and used various tactics to conceal many of those bribe payments. Overall, the pharmacy received more than $2.4 million in Medicare reimbursement payments based on prescriptions derived from the kickback scheme.

The conspiracy charge is punishable by a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss derived from the offense, whichever is greater. Sentencing for Raju is scheduled for May 16, 2023.