A Beverly Hills, California man was convicted Tuesday in federal court for his role in a $723,000 health care fraud and prescription drug diversion scheme at two pharmacies in Southern California, the Justice Department said. from USA
Between 2016 and 2017, Shahriar “Michael” Kalantari, 55, forged prescriptions as part of what court documents call health care fraud and unlicensed wholesale distribution scheme.
Bottles of pills arranged on shelf in a pharmacy
(iStock)
According to court documents and testimony provided during the hearing, Kalantari’s co-conspirators provided him with information about the person who received the drugs.
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Kalantari would then use the information to falsify prescriptions for expensive drugs such as those used to treat HIV.
The prescription would then be sent to California Medicare and Medicaid through the Kalantari accomplice’s two Southern California pharmacies, though the drugs were never delivered to the recipients, the Justice Department said.
These illustrations, provided by drug maker ViiV Healthcare on Thursday, December 10, 2020, show a rendering of the packaging and vials containing its new HIV treatment, Cabenuva, which is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. on Thursday, January 21, 2021. US regulators have approved the first long-acting combination drug for HIV, monthly injections that can replace the daily pills that have been used for decades to control infection with the AIDS virus. Cabenuva’s approval Thursday is expected to make it easier for people to keep up with their HIV medications and to do so with more privacy (ViiV Healthcare via AP)
Instead, the drugs would be provided to the accomplices to be sold on the illegal market.
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Kalantari is convicted of health care fraud, conspiracy to commit health care fraud, and conspiracy to engage in the unlicensed wholesale distribution of prescription drugs.
He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years, with maximum sentences of 10 years for each of the health care fraud convictions and a maximum sentence of five years for distribution without a license.
Justice Department
(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Kalantari’s sentencing is scheduled for February 24, 2023.
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Both the FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General investigated the case against Kalantari.
The Criminal Division of the Department of Justice and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Florida also assisted with the investigation.
The Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, according to the news release, leads efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, which began in 2007.
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The program comprises 15 strike forces in 24 federal districts and has charged more than 4,200 defendants who have billed the Medicare program for more than $19 billion.
