AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Prosecutors say a Houston pharmacy owner faces up to five years in prison and agreed to repay more than $5 million in a health care kickbacks scheme.
Nermin Awad El-Hadik, of Hope Pharmacy, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Austin to willful offer and payment of illegal remuneration in a federal health care program. She’s free on bond pending sentencing.
Investigators say El-Hadik last year paid kickbacks to chiropractor Garry Wayne Craighead, for workers’ compensation referrals.
Craighead had clinics in Dallas, Fort Worth, Killeen, Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Weslaco and Beaumont and mainly treated U.S. Postal Service workers.
Craighead last December pleaded guilty to counts including solicitation and receipt of illegal remunerations in federal health programs. He received 14 years in prison and must repay nearly $18 million to the government.
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