Two Pharmacists Arrested for Health Care Fraud in Multimillion-Dollar Scheme

In a shocking turn of events, two pharmacists, Michael Shawn Boaz and Christopher Clayton Augustus, were arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service and are set to appear in federal court in connection with a federal investigation. The two men, who owned separate pharmacies in Kentucky, were charged by a grand jury with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, multiple counts of health care fraud related to fraudulent prescriptions, and one count each of aggravated identity theft.

According to court documents, the grand jury alleged that between June 2017 and September 2021, Boaz and Augustus conspired to falsely and fraudulently bill various health care benefit programs for medications that were not prescribed. It was reported that health care benefit programs were billed in excess of $1 million. Additionally, the two were accused of using the identity of a nurse practitioner without authority.

The potential penalties for these charges include 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release for each count. This is an ongoing story that is still developing as more details emerge about the nature of the conspiracy and its impact on patients.