HOLMDEL, N.J. (WCBS 880) — The former co-owner of a New Jersey pharmacy was sentenced to 41 months in prison Wednesday for his role in a multimillion-dollar kickback scheme and for evading taxes on over $33 million of income.
Igor Fleyshmakher, 59, of Holmdel, New Jersey, was sentenced this week after previously pleading guilty to charges of conspiring to violate the federal anti-kickback statute and tax evasion.
Fleyshmakher was the co-owner of the now closed Prime Aid Pharmacies, which operated as “specialty pharmacies” in Union City, New Jersey, and the Bronx.
According to prosecutors, the pharmacy processed expensive medications used to treat various conditions, including Hepatitis C, Crohn’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis.
Federal prosecutors said that in order to obtain a higher volume of prescriptions Fleyshmakher and his staff would pay bribes to doctors and doctors’ employees to ensure the offices steered prescriptions to the Prime Aid Pharmacies.
Prosecutors said the scheme had started in 2010 and the bribes included expensive meals, designer bags and payments by cash, check and wire transfers.
The bribes and kickbacks were paid to, among others, doctors and doctors’ employees in both New Jersey and New York, prosecutors added.
In his plea, Fleyshmakher admitted that the profits from the scheme likely totaled between $3.5 million and $9.5 million.
According to FBI officials, he also “diverted a substantial amount of Prime Aid Union City income into a secret bank account that he opened and controlled” between 2012 and 2014.
“He concealed the account from the pharmacy’s tax preparers and did not report any of the funds he deposited into it on his personal income tax returns,” officials said in a release. “In total, he diverted $33.9 million of income into the secret account, all of which he failed to report to the IRS.”
It’s estimated that Fleyshmakher’s actions results in a $5.8 million tax loss to the IRS between 2012 and 2014.
In addition to his prison term, Fleyshmakher was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $5.8 million in restitution and a $100,000 fine.
Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael Honig noted that pharmacy co-owner Samuel "Sam" Khaimov, his wife, Yana Shtindler, and pharmacy operations manager Ruben Sevumyants have also been charged with health care fraud offenses and violations of the anti-kickback statute.
Several others involved in the scheme have already pleaded guilty for their roles in the kickback and bribery scheme, as well.
They are: Joel Grimshaw, a former Prime Aid sales representative; Eddy Shtindler, a former Prime Aid Union City employee; Alex Fleyshmakher, a former Prime Aid Union City employee and co-owner of Prime Aid Bronx; and Yudelka "Vicky" Ayala, a doctor's employee who received over $200,000 in bribes and kickbacks.