DEARBORN HEIGHTS — A Dearborn Heights pharmacist has been sentenced to 77 months in prison for defrauding healthcare insurers.

Federal officials said that the pharmacist defrauded insurers out of nearly $10 million.

Mohamad Ali Makki, 46, was sentenced in federal court, U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison said.

U.S. District Judge Linda Parker also ordered Makki to pay $9.8 million in restitution and ordered the forfeiture of more than $1 million seized from bank accounts he controlled.

Investigators said that Makki, who worked at Life Care Pharmacy in Farmington Hills, participated in the scheme to defraud Medicare, Medicaid and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan by submitting insurance claims for drugs the pharmacy did not actually purchase.

Makki was allegedly involved in the scheme from 2013 through 2019.

“Fraud by healthcare professionals will be aggressively pursued by our office,” Ison said. “We hope that prosecutions like this one will deter healthcare professionals from stealing money from those who genuinely need it in order to line their own pockets.”

The scheme included claims for expensive pharmaceuticals such as Abilify, Seroquel and Epipen two-pack injections.