Morris Man Convicted In Prescription Drug Scheme With Ex-Principal

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — A federal jury has convicted a Randolph man of conspiring to defraud public health benefit programs by billing for medically unnecessary compound prescriptions, according to U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger.

Matthew Puccio, 40, of Randolph, was convicted on July 19, of conspiracy to commit health care fraud following a seven-day jury trial before U.S. District Judge John Michael Vazquez.

Puccio, who formally worked as a sales representative, will face up to 10 years in prison and fines of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from his crime, Sellinger said.

Puccio's brother-in-law, former Sussex Avenue Elementary School principal Peter Frazzano, previously pleaded guilty in 2019 to a similar fraud scheme.

Frazzano pleaded guilty in 2019 to conspiring to defraud the New Jersey School Employees' Health Benefits Program, the New Jersey State Health Benefits Plan, and other plans out of $2.7 million between Nov. 2014 and March 2016.

During that time, Puccio is accused of participating in the same conspiracy that involved submitting fraudulent prescriptions for compounded medications to the same public health benefits programs, officials said.

According to authorities, Puccio was a sales representative for several compounding pharmacies.

Compounded medications, or altered drugs, are sometimes prescribed for people who have specific conditions, such as allergies to a specific ingredient, Sellinger said.

Compounded medications, also known as altered drugs, are sometimes prescribed for people suffering from specific conditions. Although compound drugs are not FDA-approved, they are properly prescribed when a physician determines that an FDA-approved medication does not meet a specific patient's health needs, such as allergies to a specific ingredient, according to Sellinger.

Marketing firms recruited and paid sales representatives like Puccio to obtain compound medications for themselves and others regardless of medical necessity, focusing on health plans that reimbursed for compound medications at a high rate, Sellinger said.

According to authorities, Puccio and others targeted and recruited people with health plans that covered compounded medications, and then enlisted the help of two New Jersey physicians to write bogus prescriptions for these people.

"Once the prescriptions were written, they were filled by the compounding pharmacies with which Puccio worked. The compounding pharmacies would then receive reimbursement from the health plans and would pay Puccio a percentage of the reimbursement amount. Puccio and his conspirators caused a significant loss to public health benefits programs," Sellinger said.

Frazzano faces up to ten years in prison and as part of the plea agreement, he must forfeit $270,000 in criminal proceeds and pay $2.7 million in restitution.