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Mukaram Gazi, 51, of Marlboro in Monmouth County was charged with conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks, receiving kickbacks, health care fraud and conspiring to unlawfully distribute dangerous narcotics, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig.
According to Thursday's indictment:
- Gazi owned a urology practice with offices in Freehold, Hamilton, Howell and Toms River.
- Gazi received more than $130,000 in bribes and kickbacks from Insys Therapeutics, an Arizona-based drug company.
- Bribes were taken in exchange for prescribing Subsys, a powerful opioid narcotic that rapidly enters the bloodstream upon being sprayed under the tongue.
The bribes and kickbacks Gazi accepted for prescribing Subsys were disguised as payments for educational presentations, the indictment said.
In reality, these presentations were a sham. They often functioned as social events at restaurants, lacked the appropriate audience of licensed practitioners who could prescribe Subsys, and many of the purported signatures on the speaker program sign-in sheets were forged, according to the indictment.
Gazi also prescribed high-dosage Adderall to a pharmacy owner who filled many of his Subsys prescriptions, as well as the pharmacy owner’s significant other, to induce the pharmacy owner to continue filling his Subsys prescriptions, the indictment said.
Finally, Gazi is accused of submitting fake claims to Medicare, New Jersey Medicaid, and other health insurance providers for the prescriptions of Subsys and Adderall that he wrote, the indictment said.
Honig credited special agents and investigators of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr. in Newark; special agents of the Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert; special agents the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Susan A. Gibson in Newark; and special agents of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Thomas Mahoney, with the investigation leading to Thursday’s indictment.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Baker and Senior Trial Counsel David Malagold, of the Cybercrime Unit, in Newark.
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