Two Miami pharmacy owners sent to prison for fleecing $9 million from coupon program
Two owners of a Miami-Dade pharmacy chain face long prison terms after admitting they stole $9 million from drug-coupon programs provided by pharmaceutical companies, U.S. authorities said.
William Clero, 45, and Cesar Armando Perez Amador, 52, both of Miami-Dade, were sentenced in federal court Wednesday to 17 1/2 years and 7 years in prison, respectively, by U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore.
Earlier this year, both defendants pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud.
They admitted submitting false claims to the pharmaceutical companies’ cost-savings programs by fabricating prescriptions for fictitious patients who didn’t receive the drugs from their chain of 21 Miami-Dade pharmacies between 2014 and 2021, according to court records. The pharmaceutical manufacturers offer the programs to reduce the cost of prescription drugs for consumers, authorities said.
Clero and Perez used straw owners to disguise their ownership of the pharmacies and spent the illicit drug-coupon reimbursements on two Miami-Dade real estate properties and four vehicles, including a 2019 Cadillac Escalade, court records show.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aimee Jimenez and investigated by Homeland Security Investigations’ El Dorado Task Force-South.
This story was originally published June 2, 2022 at 5:11 PM.
