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Aug 6, 2008 3:35 pm US/Eastern

56 Govt. Workers Arrested In Health Insurance Scam

Employees Charged With Illegal Operation In Selling A Powerful Drug Called Oxycontin

State Attorney Office List Of Names Connected To Health Insurance Scam

MIAMI (CBS4) ―

The Office of the State Attorney on Wednesday announced the arrest of 62 individuals, 56 of them employed in various different branches of Miami-Dade government, in relation to an illegal operation involving the distribution and street sales of the powerful drug Oxycontin.

State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, along with officials from the Miami-Dade Police Department and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, stated they believed a group of recruiters enticed the workers to cheaply obtain the extremely addictive painkiller OxyContin through their government health plans.

The people involved, according to the prosecutors, were supplied with phony prescriptions written by a physician.

The pills would then be sold for cash to these recruiters, who could resell the pills for much more on the street. The government employees would also file fake insurance claims to their health insurers.

Detectives estimate more than 130 bogus prescriptions were filled -- meaning more than 12,000 OxyContin tablets worth $400,000 were circulated.

Those arrested Wednesday face racketeering and grand theft charges.

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