The Missouri attorney general and Cole County prosecutor's offices announced Monday the Cole County Grand Jury indicted the owner of a local pharmacy owner and pharmacist in a Medicaid fraud case.
The two offices announced in a press release that Shane Becker of Verona, owner of the Old Town Pharmacy LLC, and Montserrat Ortega-Saucedo of Cassville, a pharmacy technician at Old Town, were indicted on 34 total counts. The grand jury returned 26 counts of violations involving health care payments, six counts of forgery, one count of identity theft and one count of stealing by deceit.
The Old Town Pharmacy is based in Monett and, according to the company's website, it has a pharmacy in Pierce City and Tolson's Old Town Pharmacy on High Street in Jefferson City.
Counts one through 26 in the indictment allege Becker and Ortega-Saucedo knowingly made a false statement to receive a health care payment from MO HealthNet, Missouri's Medicaid provider, between May 3, 2018, and March 18, 2019.
Counts 27 through 32 in the indictment allege that defendants Becker and Ortega-Saucedo forged several Medicaid recipients' prescriptions.
Count 33 of the indictment alleges Becker and Ortega-Saucedo knowingly used MO HealthNet DCN numbers for six Medicaid recipients to appropriate approximately $25,000 from MO HealthNet.
Count 34 of the indictment alleges Becker and Ortega-Saucedo knowingly made false statements to MO HealthNet to receive a payment of approximately $25,000.
The identities of the alleged victims were not released in the indictments.
If found guilty on the charges of identity theft and stealing by deceit, Becker and Ortega-Saucedo face a range of punishment from no less than three years and not to exceed 10 years in prison on each count.
The range of punishment for the Medicaid fraud and forgery charges could be a prison term of not more than seven years on each count.
Court records show both men posted $10,000 cash bonds and were released.
The cases have been assigned to Cole County Judge Cotton Walker, and they are to be back in his court in June.