STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A pharmacy owner from Staten Island pleaded guilty Tuesday in a New Jersey federal court for defrauding health care benefit programs Medicare and Medicaid, according to law enforcement officials.
Thomas Conzo, 49, of Tottenville, who owned Elite Pharmacy in Linden, New Jersey, received nearly $200,000 in reimbursement payments for fraudulent claims on behalf of the pharmacy, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey announced this week.
In 2022, Conzo submitted fraudulent claims to the government programs by using the credentials of a former pharmacist without the pharmacist’s knowledge to sign off on prescriptions, prosecutors said…