Julie Andresen, 40, of Haddonfield, New Jersey, is going to prison for 15 months after admitting her role in a $956,885 health care fraud scheme centered on medically unnecessary compounded medications. The former pharmaceutical company employee took cash in exchange for filling phony prescriptions for herself and her husband, federal prosecutors announced today in Newark.
Andresen pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud before U.S. District Judge John Michael Vazquez, who handed down the sentence in federal court. Between September 2014 and September 2015, she accepted payments from a third-party marketing outfit known as ‘Company A’ in return for scamming her employer’s prescription drug benefit plan. The scheme relied on forged legitimacy—Andresen used her industry access to game the system from the inside.
She approached ‘Physician-1,’ a close friend and licensed doctor, at social events, handing over preprinted prescription forms for high-cost compounded drugs like scar creams and metabolic supplements. The physician signed off without medical justification. Andresen then faxed those prescriptions to out-of-state compounding pharmacies handpicked by Company A, which billed her employer’s plan for each fill—receiving reimbursements ranging from $13,572 to $43,689 per transaction.
Those pharmacies kicked back a cut to Company A, which in turn paid Andresen a percentage. She requested multiple refills and collected cash each time. Over the course of the scheme, Andresen pocketed $161,378. The New Jersey pharmaceutical company covering her plan was left on the hook for $956,885 in fraudulent claims.
In addition to prison, Judge Vazquez sentenced Andresen to three years of supervised release and ordered her to pay full restitution—$956,885—and forfeit $161,378, the exact amount she profited. The court showed no leniency, emphasizing the betrayal of trust inherent in defrauding a health care system meant to serve legitimate patients.
Andresen isn’t the only former employee facing consequences. Stephanie Naar, 28, of St. Louis, Missouri, and Peter Pappas, 45, of Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania—both ex-workers at the same pharmaceutical firm—pleaded guilty in 2016 to similar charges. Pappas admitted to recruiting others into the scam. Both await sentencing. The FBI and Defense Criminal Investigative Service led the probe, under the direction of Special Agents in Charge Timothy Gallagher and Leigh-Alistair Barzey, respectively.
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Key Facts
- State: New Jersey
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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