Diarrhea Medication Scheme Ends With Prison Time For NJ Pharmacist

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — A Montville man who ran a pharmacy in Passaic County has been sentenced to prison for a multi-million dollar medication scheme.

Nestor E. Jaime, 37, of Pine Brook, pleaded guilty in November to an indictment charging him with one count of health care fraud, officials said.

On April 15, Jaime was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay $2,505,754 in restitution.

According to court records, Jaime, who owned Fabio’s Pharmacy in Paterson, had reported hundreds of false prescriptions of Dificid, a medication that treats diarrhea caused by a bacterial infection.

Officials said that between 2019 and 2021, Jaime reported several phony prescriptions to Medicare, which reimburses the pharmacy. He submitted “high reimbursement” claims for the Dificid, with each prescription costing more than $4,000.

Officials added that Jaime falsely included the providers’ unique provider numbers on the fake claims to make it appear as though the Medicare beneficiaries’ health care providers had prescribed the medication.

In total, Jaime profited at least $2.5 million over the course of the con, and spent that money on “luxury vehicles and other personal expenditures,” officials said.