Brampton pharmacist scammed drug company $7,000,000 to pay for mansion and cars
Published April 1, 2022 at 11:27 am
A Brampton pharmacist has had his licence revoked after allegedly scamming a drug company to pay for a multi-million dollar mansion and high-end cars.
Between June 2017 and February 2018, Brampton pharmacist Sameh Sadek allegedly submitted fake prescriptions for drugs that were never dispensed at his MD Health Pharmacy.
According to a lawsuit filed by AstraZeneca Canada, the drug store allegedly filed claims for prescriptions using real or forged patient information.
The fake scripts included an antipsychotic drug called Seroquel, and reports indicate the scheme cost AstraZeneca $7.7 million through its reimbursement program even though MD Health only purchased some $5,000 worth of the medications.
The lawsuit alleged Sadek used the pilfered funds to live the high life, buying a $2.75 mansion in Mississauga and luxury vehicles.
Sadek was ordered to pay $35,000 in fines as well as $80,000 in costs, but not before reportedly making a $3 million withdrawal and fleeing to his home country of Egypt.
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A judge then ordered the pharmacist to pay $7.4 million in damages, freezing his assets in Canada.
Sadek was reportedly living the high life before including three properties in the GTA, condos in Aruba and a Range Rover.
The Ontario College of Pharmacists has now revoked Sadek’s licence calling the scam “appalling” and one of the largest fraud schemes the Discipline Committee has ever dealt with.
“Your conduct involved significant elements of moral failing and dishonesty,” the college wrote in a reprimand of Sadek . “The nature and seriousness of your misconduct casts doubt on your moral fitness and your ability to discharge the duties and obligations the public expects of a member of this College.”
Sadek is reportedly still living in Egypt, and the MD Health Pharmacy at 186 Main St. South has been permanently closed.
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