FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 15, 2003
DENVER PHARMACIST ARRESTED FOR $458,699 MEDICAID FRAUD, UNLAWFULLY DISPENSING CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES, AND FILING FALSE INCOME TAX RETURNS
DENVER – John Suthers, United States Attorney for the District of Colorado, Phillip B.J. Reid, Special Agent in Charge of Federal Bureau of Investigations Denver’s Office, and James D. Vickery, Special Agent In Charge of the IRS-Criminal Investigation, Denver Field Office, announced the arrest of DIEN NGOC NGUYEN, age 36, of Denver, Colorado, for health care fraud, filing false tax returns, and illegally dispensing controlled substances. NGUYEN was arrested yesterday afternoon without incident at his home on South Poplar Street in Denver.
According to the indictment returned by a federal grand jury on October 7, 2003, NGUYEN was the sole proprietor and pharmacist for the now defunct Saigon Pharmacy, which was located at 1005 South Federal Boulevard. As part of his business operations, NGUYEN entered into an agreement with the State of Colorado to bill Medicaid for prescriptions dispensed in compliance with federal law to Medicaid recipients. The indictment alleges that the NGUYEN did not purchase sufficient supplies of prescription drugs from legitimate distributors to support billings he submitted to the Colorado Medicaid Program. It further alleges that the defendant billed and received payments from Medicaid of at least $458,699 for prescription drugs that he did not in fact supply to Medicaid recipients.
In a separate scheme, NGUYEN is alleged to have conspired to unlawfully dispense and distribute Schedule II and III controlled substance, including Dilaudid and hydrocodone, by filling prescriptions for those drugs while knowing that the prescriptions were fraudulent. In this scheme NGUYEN is charged with illegally dispensing 264 hydrocodone tablets, a Schedule III narcotic, as well as 289 Dilaudid tablets, a Schedule II narcotic.
NGUYEN also faces two counts of filing false income tax returns for understating his business income for 1998 and 1999.
The government is seeking forfeiture of NGUYEN’s house located at 151/155 South Poplar Street in the Lowry Subdivision in Denver, as well as $458,699, which represents the amount of proceeds obtained as a result of the Medicaid fraud.
“Health care fraud harms everyone,” said James D. Vickery, Special Agent In Charge of the IRS-Criminal Investigation, Denver Field Office. “It creates an untaxed economy that uses legitimate businesses to launder illegal proceeds, and increases the cost of legitimate health care,” he said.
If convicted, NGUYEN faces up to 10 years in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine for each of the 6 counts of health care fraud. He faces up to 5 years in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine for each of the 7 counts of dispensing or distributing a Schedule III controlled substances. NGUYEN faces up to 20 years in prison, and/or a $1,000,000 fine for each of the 7 counts of dispensing or distributing a Schedule II controlled substance, and for 1 count of Conspiracy to dispense or distribute a controlled substance. Each of the 2 counts of filing false income tax returns carries a sentence of not more than 3 years in prison, and/or a $100,000 fine.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the IRS-Criminal Investigation, the Criminal Enforcement Division of the Food and Drug Administration, and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. NGUYEN is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael Theis.
The charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty.
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