Lockport Pharmacist Walter Beich Sentenced to 4 Years for Billing Insurers for Drugs He Swapped or Never Dispensed

Case from 2015–2018 (U.S. Attorney's Office release: May 26, 2015; later developments are from court records and other sources cited below). Published on Scammers.com Oct. 16, 2026; case status is current as of that date.

Walter Beich, owner and pharmacist of Lockport Pharmacy Inc., which operated as Corwin Pharmacy, was indicted in May 2015 on 12 counts accusing him of billing Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers about $2.4 million for prescriptions he didn't dispense or replaced with cheaper products, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced [1].

Outcome: Beich pleaded guilty in November 2016, according to the court docket [2], and on April 5, 2018, was sentenced to 48 months in prison for health care fraud and aggravated identity theft and ordered to pay more than $2.2 million in restitution, the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General reported [3].

How the scheme worked

According to the indictment as summarized by prosecutors [1], and the Labor Department OIG's summary of the case [3]:

1. Billing for drugs not given: Beich filed claims for prescription drugs that were never dispensed, or that he swapped for less expensive supplements or non-FDA-approved, foreign-made products. The indictment alleged he gave customers a foreign-sourced drug in place of prescription Viagra.
2. Fake phone-in orders: He had employees create prescriptions that appeared to be phoned in by physicians; the OIG said employees did so unknowingly after he falsely told them doctors had called.
3. Free samples billed as stock: He obtained physician sample drugs and billed insurers as if he had bought them through normal channels, the indictment alleged.
4. Payers: Medicare, Medicaid, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Humana and United Healthcare. Corwin Pharmacy received about $2.4 million on the fraudulent claims between 2010 and 2013, the OIG said.

The person sentenced

Walter Beich, 61 when indicted, Lockport, Ill.

• Charges: 12-count indictment (May 2015) including health care fraud and aggravated identity theft for using patient and physician names.
• Plea: November 2016, per the docket [2].
• Sentence (April 5, 2018): 48 months in prison and more than $2.2 million in restitution [3].
• Investigation: FBI, HHS-OIG, Labor Department OIG and Illinois State Police.

Red flags

• Pills that look different from your usual prescription without explanation.
• Insurance statements for refills you never picked up.
• Prescriptions "called in" by a doctor you didn't see.

What to do if you're targeted

1. Ask your pharmacist to identify any unfamiliar pill; you can also check imprints with your insurer's or a reputable pill identifier.
2. Compare pharmacy claims on your insurer or Medicare statement with what you received.
3. Report pharmacy fraud to HHS-OIG at oig.hhs.gov/fraud/report-fraud and to your insurer.

Case status (as of Oct. 16, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status as of Oct. 16, 2026	Source
Walter Beich, Lockport, Ill.	N.D. Ill., 15 CR 282	Indicted May 2015; pleaded guilty Nov. 2016; sentenced April 5, 2018, to 48 months; $2.2M+ restitution	[2], [3]

The sentence was imposed in 2018; we have not found a source on Beich's current custody status.

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "Lockport Pharmacist Indicted For Allegedly Falsely Billing $2.4 Million For Prescription Claims," May 26, 2015. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/lockport-pharmacist-indicted-allegedly-falsely-billing-24-million-prescription-claims
2. CourtListener, United States v. Beich, No. 1:15-cr-00282 (N.D. Ill.), docket. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/5625389/united-states-v-beich/
3. U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, OIG Investigations Newsletter, April 1–May 31, 2018. https://oig.dol.gov/public/oinewsletter/DOL-OIG%20Investigations%20Newsletter%20April%20-%20May%202018.pdf

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