A Texas pharmacist has been sentenced to over 17 years in federal prison and ordered to forfeit a record-breaking $405 million for his role in a massive healthcare fraud scheme.
Dehshid “David” Nourian, 62, of Plano, was sentenced on February 21st to 17 years and six months in prison and ordered to pay over $115 million in restitution. The forfeiture order, issued on March 6th, represents the largest ever secured by the Department of Justice’s Health Care Fraud Unit.
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According to court documents and trial evidence, Nourian and his co-conspirators orchestrated a scheme to defraud the Department of Labor by submitting fraudulent claims for medically unnecessary compound creams. They paid doctors millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks for prescribing these expensive creams, which were then filled by pharmacies owned and operated by Nourian and his associates.
Evidence showed that these compound creams were mixed by untrained teenagers in unsanitary conditions and billed to the government at exorbitant prices, sometimes as high as $16,000 per prescription, despite costing only around $15 to produce. Patients testified to the ineffectiveness of the creams, with some even experiencing adverse reactions.
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“Protecting victims and safeguarding the public fisc are two of the Criminal Division’s highest priorities,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This 17-year sentence sends a clear message that our prosecutors, working shoulder-to-shoulder with our investigative partners, will identify, investigate, and prosecute even the most sophisticated fraud schemes that target taxpayer money and endanger patients.”
The scheme, which ran from 2014 to 2017, resulted in over $145 million in fraudulent billing to the Department of Labor and Blue Cross Blue Shield. Nourian and his co-conspirators laundered the proceeds through a complex network of bank accounts and shell companies, attempting to evade $24 million in federal income taxes.
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The forfeited $405 million includes funds from brokerage accounts, bank accounts, real estate in Dallas and Austin, and a luxury vehicle.
This case was investigated by multiple agencies, including the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, and IRS Criminal Investigation.
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