NEW HAVEN — A Stamford man has been convicted by a federal jury of health care fraud offenses.
Officials said Kwasi Gyambibi, 40, of Stamford, was found guilty when the jury returned its verdict this afternoon. Gyambibi was found guilty of two counts of health care fraud related to fraudulent prescriptions for compound drugs that were submitted to Advantage Pharmacy in March 2015, and found him not guilty of seven counts of health care fraud. The jury could not reach a verdict on the other 10 counts in the indictment.
Officials said, “Kwasi Gyambibi worked at UConn-Stamford, and his wife, Kakra Gyambibi, was a physician who worked as a hospitalist at Stamford Hospital. Advantage Pharmacy was a compounding pharmacy located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. As a compounding pharmacy, Advantage created compound prescription drugs specifically tailored for individual patients who had a medical need for a compound drug, by mixing together individual ingredients in the exact strength and dosage prescribed by the health care provider to meet the unique needs of a patient. One tube of a compound drug cream prepared and dispensed by Advantage Pharmacy typically cost health care benefit programs thousands of dollars, and some individual tubes of cream cost more than $11,000 for a one-month supply. Kwasi Gyambibi acted as, and eventually became, a sales representative for Advantage Pharmacy.”
Federal officials said Kwasi and Kakra Gyambibi engaged in a scheme to defraud the State of Connecticut Pharmacy Benefit Plan, TRICARE and other health care programs by submitting prescriptions for compound pharmacy medications prepared and dispensed by Advantage Pharmacy. They said Kakra Gyambibi did not treat, examine, or even meet with the patients for whom the prescriptions were written. Health care programs paid Advantage Pharmacy for the compound prescription drugs. ” Advantage Pharmacy, in tum, paid commissions of between 15 percent to 35 percent to sales representatives, including Kwasi Gyambibi’s close cousin, whom Kwasi Gyambibi considered his brother.”
Officials said the scheme resulted in more than $1.5 million in losses to the victim health care programs.
Sentencing will be May 28. Gyambibi faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.
On January 18, 2019, Kakra Gyambibi pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. She also awaits sentencing.
