The Justice Department says six people are facing federal charges tied to a New Jersey scheme that allegedly funneled unnecessary prescriptions to a pharmacy in exchange for cash kickbacks, with prosecutors claiming the scheme cost Medicare and Medicaid roughly $20,684,264.
Federal filings in the District of New Jersey outline an alleged conspiracy involving a pharmacy owner, medical providers, and office staff who are accused of lining up prescriptions for high-reimbursement drugs and billing federal health programs for payments. Authorities say the arrangement ran from 2022 into late 2025 and funneled patient prescriptions to the pharmacy in return for cash and other benefits.
- Sherif Elmasri, 45, of Morganville, New Jersey, pled guilty to a two-count Information charging him with conspiring to commit health care fraud and to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute on June 16, 2025.
- Boris Veysman, 48, of Freehold, New Jersey, pled guilty to a two-count Information charging him with conspiring to commit health care fraud and unlawfully distribute controlled substances on June 17, 2025.
- Stephanie Cupo, 45, of South Plainfield, New Jersey, pled guilty to an Information charging her with conspiring to make false statements relating to health care matters and to use a Drug Enforcement Administration registration number issued to another person on January 7, 2026.
- Nikki Steidle, 53, of Toms River, New Jersey, pled guilty to an Information charging her with conspiring to defraud the United States, solicit and receive kickbacks, offer and pay kickbacks, and unlawfully distribute controlled substances on June 30, 2026.
- Janet Tadros, 59, of Union City, New Jersey, pled guilty to a two-count Information charging her with conspiring to commit health care fraud and to violate the Anti-Kickback statute on July 7, 2026.
- Ashlee Maixner, 39, of Lakehurst, New Jersey, was charged by indictment with conspiracy to defraud the United States, solicit and receive kickbacks, offer and pay kickbacks, unlawfully distribute controlled substances, and two counts of soliciting and receiving a kickback; she was arraigned and pled not guilty.
“The District of New Jersey remains committed to aggressively rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse committed by doctors, pharmacists, and medical professionals who betray their patients in pursuit of greed. Our Office will continue to ensure that those individuals who bilk our insurance systems to line their pockets with taxpayer dollars face swift justice.”
– U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer
Prosecutors say the core of the scheme centered on a pharmacy owner who selected drugs with high reimbursement rates and paid providers to issue prescriptions for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. From October 2022 to November 2025, the government alleges the pharmacy owner paid illegal kickbacks and bribes so prescriptions would be written for patients, often without proper medical need or evaluation.
One of the providers named was Dr. Boris Veysman, described in filings as an emergency medicine physician who allegedly issued prescriptions recommended by the pharmacy owner for beneficiaries referred to him. The filings claim that, at times, patients were not examined before prescriptions were issued and that some staff prepared false prior authorizations to increase the chance claims would be paid.
Two advanced practice nurses who worked under Veysman are accused of taking kickbacks as well, while an office manager in a separate neurology practice is alleged to have solicited and received roughly $3,000 per week to send unneeded prescriptions to the pharmacies. In all, authorities say the conduct caused a loss of approximately $20,684,264 to Medicare and Medicaid.
The complaint also includes allegations that Veysman, Steidle, and Maixner conspired to unlawfully distribute controlled substances to patients without proper assessment. The charging documents spell out serious statutory exposure: some conspiracy counts carry a statutory maximum of five years imprisonment and fines up to twice the gross gain or twice the gross loss, while health care fraud and Anti-Kickback violations each carry a maximum of ten years imprisonment.
Investigators credited the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under Special Agent in Charge Stefanie Roddy, the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, under Special Agent in Charge Naomi Gruchacz, and special agents, task force officers, and diversion investigators with the Drug Enforcement Administration New Jersey Field Division, under Special Agent in Charge Towanda R. Thorne-James, for the probe. Prosecutors say these agencies worked together to build the case and disrupt the alleged fraud.
The Department of Justice has established a National Fraud Enforcement Division to coordinate complex fraud investigations and prosecutions involving taxpayer-funded programs. That division is intended to work with federal, state, and local partners to identify fraud more efficiently and bring criminal actors to justice for schemes that drain government benefit programs.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jake A. Nasar of the Healthcare Fraud Unit in Newark and Trial Attorneys Nicholas Peone, Paul J. Koob, and Kraig Ahalt of the Department of Justice’s Fraud Section, with investigative assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica R. Ecker of the Northern District of Illinois. The charges and allegations contained in the Indictment against Maixner are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
