Pharmacy owner receives 60 days in jail for defrauding Medicaid of $257,000

Harriman resident also will pay $1.1 million Goshen - The owner of the Woodbury Pharmacy, who admitted stealing $257,000 from the Medicaid program in a fraudulent scheme that spanned nearly six years, has been sentenced to 60 days in jail. Maher Ishak, who lives One Chimney Ridge Drive, Harriman, also was sentenced to five years probation when he appeared Nov. 30 before Orange County Court Judge Jeffrey G. Berry. Ishak had pleaded guilty to third-degree grand larceny on May 5. According to information from state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s office, Ishak submitted hundreds of false reimbursement claims for medications which he never dispensed and, in some instances, which had never been prescribed. Prior to his sentencing, Ishak repaid the $257,000 that he stole. At his sentencing, he also agreed to repay the Medicaid program an additional $843,455 to resolve civil allegations that he and his pharmacy were overpaid. To date, Ishak has repaid approximately $395,000 of this civil liability. Berry also ordered Woodbury Pharmacy, Inc., which had also previously been convicted of third-degree grand larceny, to be jointly liable with Ishak to make full restitution and to pay a criminal fine of $5,000. Woodbury Pharmacy Inc. is located at 228 Route 32, Central Valley, New York.