A Las Vegas Valley pharmacy that collected nearly $100 million in Medicaid and Medicare payments since 2014 was secretly owned and operated by a couple with prior convictions stemming from healthcare fraud, according to newly released law enforcement documents.
The Nevada attorney general’s office said in affidavits filed in Las Vegas Justice Court that First Class RX Pharmacy, with outlets at 8846 S. Eastern Ave. and 3783 E. Desert Inn Road, collected more than $37 million from Medicaid and some $60 million from Medicare since 2014. The business did so despite being secretly owned by Abel Serbera-Armas, 53, and Zulema Serbera, age unavailable.
An investigator with the attorney general’s office said Serbera-Armas was convicted in 2007 of healthcare fraud in Florida for submitting false claims to Medicare for medical equipment that was either not prescribed or provided. His wife, Zulema Serbera, was convicted in December 2022 in Florida of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, investigators said.
Both Serbera-Armas and Zulema Serbera were placed on a federal list of individuals who were banned from participating in federal health care programs, authorities said.
A woman who answered the phone at First Class RX Pharmacy on Monday said no one was immediately available to respond to a media inquiry.
Authorities said the complaint was filed after an investigation launched by the FBI. An investigator wrote in the affidavit that paperwork repeatedly filed on behalf of First Class RX Pharmacy listed others as the owners of the business when it was actually owned by Serbera-Armas and Serbera.
On Sept. 8, the attorney general’s office filed a criminal complaint charging Serbera-Armas with 15 felonies. They include false claims to defraud Medicaid, perjury, theft more than $100,000 and conducting financial transactions with illegally obtained money or property. Serbera-Armas was arrested and booked at the Clark County Detention Center on Sept. 15, then released on his own recognizance, according to online court records.
Zulema Serbera was charged with eight felonies including false claims to defraud, perjury and theft more than $100,000. Two other people are also charged in the case. They are identified in court records as Sandra Martin and Trinh Ngoc Luu. Martin and Luu are charged with false claim to Medicaid, perjury, and theft value $100,000 or greater. Court records do not list defense attorneys for any of the defendants.
Contact Glenn Puit at gpuit@reviewjournal.com.
