Federal prosecutors announced late last week that Elan Yaish, 53, of Israel, admitted his role in a $32 million kickback conspiracy involving prescriptions for Medicare and TRICARE beneficiaries.

Yaish, who had once served as president of Edison-based Apogee Bio-Pharm, pleaded guilty before Judge Esther Salas in Newark federal court on Aug. 16 to a charge of conspiracy to violate the Federal Anti-Kickback statute.

Prosecutors said that from at least as early as September 2017 through about December 2020, Yaish and others worked together with marketers, telemedicine companies and doctors to unlawfully profit by conspiring to offer and pay illegal kickbacks and bribes in return for referrals of prescriptions for expensive medications such as pain creams, scar creams, eczema creams, migraine medication and more.

“Yaish and other conspirators submitted claims for prescription drugs to federal health care benefit programs that were tainted by kickbacks and bribes and therefore were ineligible for federal health care program reimbursement,” prosecutors had alleged in the indictment.

According to the government, the marketing companies transmitted recordings of phone calls with beneficiaries, together with pre-marked prescription pads for particular drugs that would yield exorbitant reimbursements, to telemedicine companies.

“The marketers paid the telemedicine companies kickbacks for every beneficiary referred for a prescription, and the telemedicine companies paid doctors to approve the prescriptions. The marketing companies then directed the prescriptions to pharmacies, including Apogee, with which they had kickback arrangements,” according to court records. “The pharmacies filled the prescriptions and sought reimbursement from federal health care benefits programs, including Medicare and TRICARE. The pharmacies, including Apogee, then paid a portion of each reimbursement to the marketing companies as a kickback. As a result of the scheme, Yaish and his conspirators caused a loss to Medicare and other federal health care benefit programs over $32 million.”

Yaish’s sentencing is slated for Dec. 20, 2023, when he will face a potential penalty of five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greatest.

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