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| | Orange County DA Indicted Landmark Medical Management Owner And 15 Others For Conspiracy And Insurance Fraud Last Week. Indictments Unsealed Late Last Thursday.
By Lonce LaMon - June 23, 2014
Kareem Ahmed, 45, paid physicians over 25 million dollars from mid-year 2010 to year-end 2012 to dispense transdermal compounded creams to workers’ compensation patients which were manufactured by pharmacists with whom he had established contracts. His front business was the purchase of accounts receivables from these doctors and pharmacists.
There are two indictments which were unsealed last Thursday afternoon, June 19th. One covers Kareem Ahmed, the CEO and President of Landmark Medical Management, based in Ontario; a pharmacist Michael Rudolph, the owner of Tustin Community Pharmacy Inc. (dba Healthcare Pharmacy); and a doctor named Andrew Jarminski, M.D. These three are charged together with conspiracy as they “did unlawfully conspire together and with each other to commit the crime of FILE FALSE MEDICAL CLAIM EXCEEDING $950”.
There are nine counts in this Indictment, and in Count 9 they are charged with Involuntary Manslaughter By Lawful Act In Unlawful Manner. A child died when the mother, who had the transdermal cream on her body, fed the child and the child inadvertently ingested the cream, causing its death. Part of Count 9 reads, “Kareem Ahmed, Michael Rudolph, and Andrew Jarminski, did unlawfully and without malice kill Andrew G. (a minor), a human being, in the commission of a lawful act which might produce death, in an unlawful manner and without due caution and circumspection”.
Kareem Ahmed couched his kick-back scheme behind the contracts for purchases of future accounts receivables. But the contracts were contingent upon the physicians prescribing to patients the “remaining month supply” from a pharmacy that had a contract with Ahmed. Landmark Medical Management companies also purchased accounts receivables from pharmacies.
The indictment alleges Kareem Ahmed paid Andrew Jarminski, M.D. in excess of $1,900,000 between 2010 and 2013. It also alleges Ahmed paid Michael Rudolph and Healthcare Pharmacy in excess of $1,000,000 between 2010 and 2013.
The second, 25 count indictment charges Evette Charbonnet, 36, the marketing manager for Landmark Medical Management and thirteen others who “did unlawfully conspire together and with Kareem Ahmed to commit the crime of FILE FALSE MEDICAL CLAIMS EXCEEDING $950…”
Charbonnet and her marketers recruited physicians who handled workers’ compensation patients to prescribe three medications which were compound transdermal cream formulas “based on the profitability of the ingredients”.
According to this Indictment, Kareem Ahmed and Evette Charbonnet discouraged the physicians and pharmacists from having direct contact with each other. They together “managed every aspect of the ‘kick-back’ program”.
The deputy district attorney prosecuting this case, Shaddi Kamiabipour, was not available on Friday to speak to this writer. The phone call placed went to her voice mail, and her email auto responder stated she was out of the office on June 20th and would return June 23rd.
lonce@adjuster.com
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