A Texas pharmacist, Dehshid "David" Nourian, has been hit with a hefty 17.5-year prison term and a staggering $405 million asset forfeiture after being convicted in a complex $145 million healthcare fraud scheme that targeted the Department of Labor, as reported by the U.S. Department of Justice. The 62-year-old from Plano was found guilty on multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit health care fraud and money laundering, according to a Department of Justice announcement.
The fraudulent operations, which spanned from May 2014 to March 2017 and involved billing for medically unnecessary compound creams, netted over $90 million from dubious billings to the Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs and Blue Cross Blue Shield, during the scheme, Nourian and his associates not only bribed doctors to prescribe these expensive and ineffective treatments but also had untrained teenagers mixing the compounds in the back rooms of their pharmacies and then laundered the proceeds through a complex network of bank accounts and shell companies. "Today’s 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," Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, stated in the press release.
Evidence presented at trial revealed that the cost of manufacturing these creams was about $15 per prescription, yet they were billed to government agencies for up to $16,000 each. Some patients testified that the creams were ineffective and caused painful skin rashes. In the Justice Department statement, Inspector General Tammy Hull of the U.S. Postal Service commented, "This sentence sends a strong message to those who would defraud our federal healthcare programs for personal gain."
In addition to the prison sentence and asset forfeiture, Nourian is ordered to pay over $115 million in restitution, with the seizure comprising $395 million in brokerage accounts, more than $2 million in bank accounts, $8 million in real estate, and a BMW luxury vehicle, the criminal enterprise sought to evade $24 million in federal income taxes on their ill-gotten wealth, and the historic forfeiture will now flow back to the public coffers, these actions underscore the government's resolve to hold healthcare fraudsters accountable, as stated by supervisory official Matthew R. Galeotti.
