Chestnut Hill pharmacist charged with fraud

Carl Dean who is a pharmacist at the new Chestnut Hill Pharmacy has been charged for fraud related to work at Blue Bell Village Pharmacy in Montgomery County. No charges stem from his work in Chestnut Hill.

Dean turned himself in yesterday to Montgomery County authorities on charges that he billed for 874 fraudulent prescriptions and received $86,070.88 in payments from Independence Blue Cross Insurance at the Blue Bell Village Pharmacy on 734 DeKalb Pike, which he owns.

From 2007 through 2010, Dean submitted false prescriptions to his insurance carrier, Independence Blue Cross, in his name, his wife’s name, and children’s names from the Blue Bell Pharmacy. These prescriptions were never dispensed as all insurance payments from the scripts went to support the Blue Bell Pharmacy’s operations and were used for the benefit of the defendant’s business.

Investigators contacted the 13 doctors whose names were on the prescriptions and each doctor confirmed the fraudulent prescriptions.

The Chestnut Hill pharmacy told NewsWorks that the arrest will not impact its pharmacy operations.

A recent profile of Carl Dean in the Chestnut Hill Local says Dean grew up in Chestnut Hill on West Meade Street and later worked as a pharmacist at Reese Pharmacy and Perkel Pharmacy in Oreland.

Dean, a resident of Erdenheim, was released on $5,000 unsecured bail.