By: Richard L. Smith
The Office of the Attorney General and the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor (OIFP) have jointly announced charges against five individuals in an 80-count indictment.
Officials said they are accused of being involved in a wide-ranging prescription drug theft operation across 11 counties in the state.
Mr. Divinete Jeffries, 30, from East Orange; Mr. Kevin Lucanto, 48, from Paterson; Mr. Akeem Adelekan, 28, from East Orange; Mr. Otto Lachenauer, 43, from Westfield; and Ms. Satia Salters, 25, from East Orange, were named in the indictment by a state grand jury.
The charges stem from a thorough investigation by the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU), carried out in collaboration with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
According to NJ State officials, The allegations involve a scheme wherein the defendants collaborated to break into doctors' offices, steal prescription pads, and forge doctors' signatures.
Their goal was to obtain a cough syrup frequently employed as a component in a perilous narcotic mixture.
First Assistant Attorney General Lyndsay V. Ruotolo expressed, "This alleged conspiracy involved the use of fraud to fuel the opioid epidemic further."
Interim Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Al Garcia noted, "Medical offices in various parts of the state, including Wayne, Morristown, and Bridgewater, were targeted for burglary while these defendants misled pharmacists across the state into filling invalid prescriptions."
He stressed the importance of accountability for anyone engaging in such criminal behavior, especially on a considerable scale.
The grand jury heard testimony that, during 2022 and 2023, the defendants orchestrated an intricate operation where Jeffries allegedly broke into medical offices and stole prescription pads from doctors.
These stolen pads were then utilized to forge prescriptions and supplied to pharmacies throughout the state.
Using stolen identities and fake driver's licenses, the defendants would fraudulently obtain Promethazine with Codeine, a controlled dangerous substance (CDS) of Schedule V known for its opioid content, thus highlighting the severity of their actions.