CCO of Defunct Pharmacy Holding Company Found Guilty in Medicare fraud

Steven King, the chief compliance officer of A1C Holdings, a now-defunct pharmacy holding company, has been convicted of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud.

A federal jury found him guilty for his involvement in unnecessarily billing Medicare for over $50 million in medical supplies. The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced King's conviction in a press release.

A1C Holdings operated pharmacies in multiple states, including All American Medical Pharmacy based in Michigan. King, along with his alleged co-conspirators, exploited Medicare beneficiaries by fraudulently billing for lidocaine and diabetic testing supplies that were neither required nor requested by patients. This fraudulent activity not only defrauded Medicare but also violated regulations of pharmacy benefit managers, according to the DOJ.

To conceal their wrongdoing, King and his associates employed various tactics. They enrolled their mail order pharmacies as physical retail locations to evade stricter oversight, shipped prescription refills for high-reimbursing medications without patient consent, concealed the ownership of A1C and its pharmacies, and transferred patients between pharmacies without their consent. The DOJ emphasized that as the chief compliance officer, King had the authority to prevent and expose the fraudulent scheme but chose not to do so.

King now faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on September 14.

By fLEXI tEAM