It is an 18 million euro scam carried out in just a few weeks to the detriment of the Primary Health Insurance Fund (CPAM) in Paris.
According to our information, a pharmacist at the head of several pharmacies in the capital was indicted on December 17, 2021 for fraud and money laundering in an organized gang, forgery and use of forgery by an investigating judge of the Paris court. .
This was confirmed to us by the Paris prosecutor's office.
The 46-year-old practitioner and owner of pharmacies in the 11th and 18th arrondissements of the capital was imprisoned.
He is suspected of having fraudulently collected the sum of 18 million euros between September 14 and December 9, 2021 by invoicing the CPAM for more than 3 million antigenic tests which he declared to have sold to health professionals: doctors , nurses…
Other searches took place
The CPAM saw nothing for several weeks before discovering the extent of the scam at its expense and filing a complaint against the pharmacist.
A preliminary investigation had been opened at the beginning of December by the Paris prosecutor's office, which very quickly then carried out a judicial investigation given the extent of the fraud.
The investigations were entrusted to the police officers of the Brigade for the repression of astute delinquency (BRDA).
The pharmacist's scam was well established.
As part of the fight against Covid, the owners of pharmaceutical pharmacies have a double role: they can provide antigenic tests to health professionals, but also carry them out themselves.
Both services are then invoiced to the CPAM.
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Supplier of antigenic tests in large quantities, the pharmacist in question made false order forms, thus declaring to the CPAM of Paris more tests sold than it was in reality and invoicing fictitious antigenic tests.
3,129,158 phantom antigen tests would thus have been invoiced.
According to our information, the same process would have been used by another pharmacist in the 18th arrondissement of the capital for an amount of 4 million euros over ten months, from November 2020 to August 2021. Again a report was made by the CPAM.
Placed in police custody in the premises of the BRDA, the practitioner was released on January 4.
The investigations continue.
Other pharmacists could be affected by this large-scale scam, in recent weeks several searches have taken place in pharmacies.