SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 2024

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Buyers & SellersOpen Sunday 1-3pm1561 Gaywood Drive, AltadenaOffered at $3,850,000In Escrow501 Woodland Drive, Sierra MadreOffered at $1,098,000Jan Greteman 626.975.4033lic #01943630Judy Webb-Martin 626.688.2273lic #00541631Katie Orth 626.688.0418lic #00942500
VOLUME 18 NO. 24VOLUME 18 NO. 24

FORMER SIERRA MADRE 
PHARMACIST SENTENCED 
FOR $1M HEALTH CARE 
FRAUD SCHEME

SIERRA MADRE PARCEL 
TAX MAY APPEAR ON 
NOVEMBER BALLOT

In a recently released statement from the Sierra Madre 
City Clerk Laura Aguilar, sufficient qualified signatures 
have been gathered to "forward the initiative measure 
to the City Council for consideration. Additionally, 
the results have been verified and certified by the Los 
Angeles County Clerk."

The effort to gather signatures via petition was 
circulated to Sierra Madre voters between March 2024 
and May 2024. 

Sierra Madre residents James Walsworth and Theodore 
Seraf are proponents of the citizen’s initiative ballot 
measure, AS reported previously in the Mountain 
Views News, ( https://mtnviewsnews.com/v18/htm/
n10/index.htm):

 "Proponents of the tax state, 

"Protecting the citizens of Sierra Madre is the highest 
purpose of the City’s government. Fast emergency 
response times and crime prevention are necessary to 
maintain the high standard of living that Sierra Madre 
residents have historically enjoyed. Without an 
adequately funded Police and Fire Department, the 
City and its citizens are unnecessarily placed at risk 
from crime, property damage, slow 9-1-1 response 
times, and myriad public safety issues. 

The City’s general fund has historically been 
insufficient to fund a properly staffed Police and Fire 
Department, leading to myriad public safety ills. In 
order to avoid any public safety issues in the future, 
this measure would create a separate, special fund 
which will allow the City to properly fund its Police and 
Fire Departments, allowing the departments to offer 
competitive pay packages to officers as compared to 
other municipalities, improve recruitment efforts, and 
maintain fully staffed and functioning departments. 

Setting up and funding this special set aside fund will 
allow the City to protect its citizens and maintain 
the high standard of living enjoyed by Sierra Madre 
residents." 

Now that the signatures supporting the initiative 
have been verified, the City Clerk will prepare a 
comprehensive report to the City Council outlining 
all options. The target date to present this report is 
June 25, 2024. The Council will meet at 5:30 pm in a 
public meeting. 

On Tuesday, the US Department 
of Justice issued a press release 
regarding the disposition of the 
case involving Paul Mansour, 
former local pharmacist. He was 
sentenced to two years in prison 
for submitting false and fraudulent 
claims to Medicare for prescription 
drugs that were never dispensed to 
beneficiaries.

According to court documents, 
Paul Mansour, 56, of Sierra Madre, 
was a pharmacist who co-owned 
Mansour Partners Inc., doing 
business as Best Buy Drugs (Best 
Buy). From January 2017 to July 
2022, Mansour created fake patient 
profiles in the Best Buy pharmacy’s 
digital filing system using fictitious 
names, dates of birth, and addresses. 
Mansour added fraudulent 
prescriptions to the fake patient 
profiles and then submitted false 
and fraudulent claims to Medicare 
for those prescriptions in the name 
of actual Best Buy patients. In doing 
so, Mansour billed Medicare for 
fraudulent prescriptions that were 
never dispensed to beneficiaries.

Mansour pleaded guilty on April 
5, 2023, to one count of health care 
fraud.

Principal Deputy Assistant 
Attorney General Nicole M. 
Argentieri, head of the Justice 
Department’s Criminal Division; 
Acting Assistant Director in 
Charge Krysti Hawkins of the 
FBI Los Angeles Field Office; and 
Special Agent in Charge Timothy 
DeFrancesca of the Department of 
Health and Human Services Office 
of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) 
Los Angeles Regional Office made 
the announcement.

The FBI and HHS-OIG investigated 
the case.

In court documents made public 
after sentencing, it was revealed that 
Mansour is required to make full 
restitution of the funds taken. The 
court found that, "..the defendant's 
economic circumstances allow 
for restitution payments pursuant 
to the following schedule: full 
payment of $1,038,411.96 no 
later than 60 days after the date 
of sentencing" He has also been 
ordered to pay a fine of $100,000 
within the same time frame.

Mansour was sentenced to 24 
months in prison to be followed 
by 3 years of supervised release. 
He is to surrender to the Bureau 
of Prisons 'at or before noon on 
August 30, 2024.

Trial Attorney Matthew R. Belz 
of the Criminal Division’s Fraud 
Section prosecuted the case.

The Fraud Section leads the 
Criminal Division’s efforts to 
combat health care fraud through 
the Health Care Fraud Strike Force 
Program. Since March 2007, this 
program, currently comprised 
of nine strike forces operating in 
27 federal districts, has charged 
more than 5,400 defendants who 
collectively have billed federal 
health care programs and private 
insurers more than $27 billion. In 
addition, the Centers for Medicare 
& Medicaid Services, working 
in conjunction with HHS-OIG, 
are taking steps to hold providers 
accountable for their involvement 
in health care fraud schemes. 
More information can be found at 
www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/
health-care-fraud-unit.

MVNews

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AFTERNOON BEAR ACTIVITY

Sierra Madre, CA – June 13, 2024 –

 Between the hours of approximately 12:30 
pm and 2:15 pm, the Sierra Madre Police 
Department responded to five reports of 
bear activity that required an emergency 
response. All five reports involved a bear 
intruding into a structure, including four 
homes and one garage. All locations were in 
the northeastern part of the City.

There are no reports of injuries at this time, 
and only one of the structures was occupied.

Subsequent to receiving the fifth report 
(approximately 2:15 p.m.), Sierra Madre Police 
Department officers reported that they were 
able to divert a bear into the wildland north 
of Sierra Madre’s residential neighborhoods. 
There have been no additional reports of 
bear activity since then.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife was 
notified as soon as possible and has indicated 
that a representative is traveling to Sierra 
Madre.

The City would like to remind residents 
and visitors to call 911 anytime they feel 
threatened by wildlife or wildlife enters a 
home. For more information, please contact 
Management Analyst James Carlson at (626) 
836-6636.











 

 

 



 

 

 

Sierra Madre Legal Notices Pg.15


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