Pharmacist pleads guilty to fraud

9 August 2011

Media Release

Pharmacist pleads guilty to fraud

Auckland pharmacist Wayne Baker has pleaded guilty in court today to 95 charges of defrauding Auckland District Health Board by submitting nearly $70,000 in false claims for payment.

Ministry of Health investigators said Mr Baker, 54, who is director of Sandringham Village Pharmacy, claimed payment for dispensing prescriptions that were either expired, not requested by patients or not authorised by the prescriber. The fraudulent claims totalled almost $70,000 between July 2006 and July 2009, when Ministry of Health investigators discovered the fraud.

In some cases, the pharmacy used the names of deceased patients to claim for payments. It also claimed for dispensing more expensive proprietary medicines though it had only supplied cheaper generic versions.

Mr Baker has repaid the entire amount. He has been remanded on bail and is scheduled to be sentenced on October 11.

ENDS

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