A Louisville pharmacist was recently sentenced to nine months in prison for fraudulently billing health care benefit plans by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky.

Gary Green submitted bills for unfilled prescriptions of pain cream to insurers between November 2015 and December 2018 using national provider identifier numbers of two physicians without their authorization, a U.S. Department of Labor press release said. The fraud amounted to $188,157 in losses.

"Knowingly committing healthcare fraud victimizes insurance companies and hardworking employees," Employee Benefits Security Administration Regional Director L. Joe Rivers, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, said in the release. "Fraudulently inflating healthcare bills for unnecessary or non-existent treatments raises the cost others pay for health insurance. The U.S. Department of Labor remains committed to preventing benefits abuse, and will hold anyone found guilty of fraud accountable.”

Investigators determined Green deposited the money he stole into his business bank account, the release said. He then transferred the proceeds to his personal bank account knowing the funds represented proceeds of a health care fraud.

The Nov. 18 sentencing follows Green’s guilty plea to two counts of false or fraudulent material omissions, one count of health care fraud and one count of money laundering in January 2020, the release said. 

In addition to prison time, Green will be subject to two years of supervised release and be required to pay $188,157 in restitution, the release said.