Pharmacy owner pleads guilty in $100M fraud scheme

NEW PORT RICHEY — The president and owner of a Florida pharmacy at the center of a massive compounding pharmacy fraud scheme — which affected private insurance companies, Medicare and Tricare — has pleaded guilty for his role in the case.

Nicholas Borgesano Jr., 45, of New Port Richey, the president and owner of A to Z Pharmacy of New Port Richey, pleaded guilty in Middle District of Florida federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to engage in monetary transactions involving criminally derived property.

According to a press release, seven other individuals have previously pleaded guilty in connection to the scheme. Various properties, cars — including a 2008 Lamborghini convertible — and a 50-foot boat will be forfeited as part of the guilty pleas.

According to admissions made as part of his plea agreement, Borgesano owned and operated numerous pharmacies and shell companies that he and his co-conspirators used to execute a fraud scheme involving prescription compounded medications. The scheme generated over $100 million in fraud proceeds, Borgesano admitted.

Borgesano acquired and controlled A to Z Pharmacy in New Port Richey, Havana Pharmacy, Medplus/New Life Pharmacy and Metropolitan Pharmacy, all of Miami; and Jaimy Pharmacy and Prestige Pharmacy, both of Hialeah, authorities contended. He admitted using these pharmacies to cause the submission of false and fraudulent reimbursement claims for prescription compounded medications, chiefly pain creams and scar creams, to private insurance companies, Medicare and Tricare.

Borgesano admitted he and his co-conspirators manipulated billing codes in the reimbursement claims and submitted reimbursement claims for pharmaceutical ingredients they did not have, officials say. Borgesano and his co-conspirators also paid kickbacks and bribes in exchange for prescriptions and patient identifying information used to further the scheme, including to a physician in exchange for the physician signing prescriptions for patients he never saw.

According to the release, Borgesano admitted using A to Z Pharmacy as the hub of his operation on behalf of all his pharmacies. He disbursed proceeds of the fraud scheme through a variety of methods, including by check and wire transfer to co-conspirators' shell companies and through the purchase of assets, he admitted.

In addition to Borgesano, the following defendants have previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud for their roles in the scheme:

• Bradley Sirkin, 55, of Boca Raton
• Scott P. Piccininni, 49, of Fort Lauderdale
• Edwin Patrick Young, 49, of New Port Richey
• Wayne M. Kreisberg, 40, of Parkland
• Matthew N. Sterner, 48, of New Port Richey
• Peter B. Williams, 57, of New Port Richey
• Joseph Degregorio, 71, of New Port Richey

The cars that will be forfeited include a 1936 Ford Deluxe, a 1964 Chevrolet Corvette convertible, a 1967 Chevrolet Camaro, a 1970 Chevrolet Monte Carlo and a 2008 Lamborghini convertible, according to the statement. The boat that will be forfeited is a 50-foot 2009 Cigarette racing boat. The cars and boat had previously been seized. The combined equity in the real properties, cars and boat that will be forfeited is over $7.6 million, the release adds. The properties, cars and boat had been purchased with proceeds from the fraud scheme.