Pharmacist jailed after €18m antigen test fraud

That’s what we call get rich on the back of social security. “Doctor Zac”, whose pharmacy is located in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, is suspected of having invoiced “more than 3 million tests at Social Security between September and December 2021”, writes the newspaper The Parisian. The 46-year-old pharmacist charged and imprisoned on December 17 for organized fraud and money laundering, forgery and use of forgery.

With his alleged accomplice, also a pharmacist in the capital, “Doctor Zac” billed Social Security for anti-Covid tests allegedly sold to healthcare professionals. The amount stolen from the Primary Health Insurance Fund (CPAM) in Paris is close to 18 million euros, according to information from Parisian. It was the Chained Duck who revealed this scam.

A doctor discovered that he had unknowingly bought thousands of tests

Investigations began after a doctor discovered he had unknowingly bought thousands of tests. Alerted by several health professionals, Bruno Maleine, president of the regional council of the Order of pharmacists of Île-de-France, has filed a complaint initially for untimely canvassing. “These pharmacies based in Paris offer free tests to professionals residing in the south of France or who have never requested these products, it’s strange”, he explains to Parisian.

Between September and mid-December 2021, the pharmacist would have overstated his declarations of tests carried out in his pharmacy but also inflated the number of test kits sold to doctors. For now, the investigation is ongoing. “We still have to understand the mechanism of reimbursements by the CPAM”, the investigators told Agence France Presse (AFP). The various commissioned carriers, the millions of orders and the recipients of the kits still have to be scrutinized.

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