A Las Vegas pharmacy that spent years delivering prescriptions to local families is now at the center of a $97 million fraud case, with state prosecutors alleging its real owners were barred from federal health programs and concealed their control of the business behind other people’s names. Four people connected to First Class Rx Pharmacy face felony charges after the Nevada Attorney General’s Office accused them of funneling nearly $100 million in Medicaid and Medicare payments to a business secretly controlled by two individuals barred from federal healthcare programs.
According to a criminal complaint filed by the Nevada Attorney General’s Office in Las Vegas Justice Court on September 8, paperwork for First Class Rx Pharmacy listed owners other than Abel Serbera-Armas and Zulema Serbera, even though the pharmacy was allegedly secretly owned and operated by the pair. As reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the pharmacy collected nearly $100 million in Medicaid and Medicare payments since 2014, according to law enforcement documents — more than $37 million from Medicaid and about $60 million from Medicare, per the Nevada Attorney General’s Office.
Abel Serbera-Armas was charged with 15 felonies, including false claims to defraud Medicaid, perjury, theft of more than $100,000, and conducting financial transactions with illegally obtained money or property. He was arrested and booked at the Clark County Detention Center on September 15 and later released on his own recognizance, according to online court records. Zulema Serbera faces eight felonies of her own, including false claims to defraud, perjury, and theft of more than $100,000.
A Family-Run Image Built During the Pandemic
Before the criminal complaint, First Class Rx Pharmacy had cultivated a very different reputation. Las Vegas Weekly profiled the business in February 2021 as a locally owned, family-run pharmacy operating out of Desert Inn and Sandhill roads that built its name on prescription delivery during COVID-19 — a portrait that contrasts sharply with the state’s allegations of secret ownership by convicted fraudsters…