Zephyrhills Man Charged In $54 Million Compound Pharmacy Scheme

TAMPA, FL — A Zephyrhills resident is among Florida men who have been charged in federal court after being accused of participating in a compound pharmacy kickback scheme.

James Wesley Moss, 57, of Zephyrhills, Edward Christopher White, 38, of Panama City Beach, David Byron Copeland, 52, of Tallahassee, and Michael Alton Gordon, 56, of Ft. Myers were each charged in an indictment filed in the Middle District of Florida with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to pay or receive health care kickbacks.

In addition, Moss was charged with six counts of offering or paying health care kickbacks and one count of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, ketamine.

The defendants will be arraigned in the Middle District of Florida at a later date.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the allegations stem from the defendants’ participation in a multi-million dollar conspiracy to defraud TRICARE, a federal health care benefit program.

TRICARE is the health care benefit program of the U.S. Department of Defense that provides health care coverage for active duty service members, National Guard and Reserve members, retirees, their families and survivors.

The indictment alleges that Moss and others operated Florida Pharmacy Solutions Inc., which targeted TRICARE beneficiaries and submitted to $54 million TRICARE claims for expensive prescription compounded drugs that were not legitimately prescribed between November 2012 and September 2015.

TRICARE paid approximately $41 million to FPS on those claims.

The indictment further alleges that Moss paid more than $20 million in health care kickbacks to White, Copeland and Gordon in return for procuring and referring prescriptions for compounded drugs for TRICARE beneficiaries to be filled by FPS.

The DOJ said FPS submitted claims for payment to TRICARE for prescription compounded drugs to TRICARE beneficiaries in 30 states and several foreign countries.

This case was investigated by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service’s Tampa Resident Agency, assisted by the FBI as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force.

Since it begin in March 2007, the strike force has charged nearly 4,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $14 billion.