Pharmacy owners charged in $1 billion insurance scam

Four men and seven companies have been charged in connection with a $1 billion healthcare scam, according to the Department of Justice. Andrew Assad, Peter Bolos, Michael Palso, and Larry Everett Smith, all of Florida, have been charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, mail fraud, and introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce. The compounding pharmacies owned by the men were also named in the indictment. In September, Healthright, a telemedicine company with locations in Pennsylvania and Florida, and Scott Roix, CEO of Healthright, pleaded guilty to their role in the scam. Roix and Healthright also pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit mail fraud in a separate scam for fraudulently telemarketing supplements, skin creams and testosterone.