Physician, 2 pharmacists charged in $170M health care fraud, kickback and money laundering scheme

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Two pharmacists and a physician in Houston are charged for their alleged roles in a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme of six years following a 13-count indictment.

The video above is ABC13's 24/7 live stream channel.

Pharmacist Shalondria Simpson, 45; physician Lashondria Simpson-Camp, 45; and pharmacist Shayla Bryant, 38, are accused of conspiring to submit fraudulent claims between 2016 and 2022.

Simpson owned and operated two pharmacies in Houston, while her twin sister Simpson-Camp would allegedly refer prescriptions to those pharmacies in exchange for illegal kickbacks and bribes.

Officials said the three would submit the claims to the Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation Program (DOL-OWCP) for high reimbursing drugs that were often medically unnecessary and induced by kickbacks and bribes, which they'd conspire to pay and receive.

Simpson's pharmacies allegedly submitted approximately $170 million in fraudulent claims through DOL-OWCP.

SEE ALSO: Richmond man sentenced for $1.4 million Medicare home health fraud scheme

To cover her tracks, Simpson conspired to launder the proceeds of the criminal activity through financial transactions greater than $10,000. But once she learned about the investigation, officials say she converted those proceeds to cash and transferred them to over 10 bank accounts and a cryptocurrency wallet.

The indictment charges Simpson, Simpson-Camp, and Bryant with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay and receive health care kickbacks and one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Simpson is also charged with conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, five counts of money laundering, and five counts of paying health care kickbacks, one of which charges Bryant.

If convicted, the three face a maximum penalty of five years in prison and 10 years for conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud.

Simpson and Bryant each face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each count of paying health care kickbacks. Simpson faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for conspiracy to launder money instruments and 10 years for each count of money laundering.

SEE ALSO: Married couple charged in multi-million dollar scheme involving privately-owned home health services