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Rahim Shafa, 62, and his wife Nahid “Nina” Tormosi Shafa, 62, were each indicted on Friday, Aug. 7, on charges of international money laundering conspiracy. Rahim Shafa was also charged with three counts of money laundering, receiving and delivering misbranded drugs with an intent to defraud and mislead, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and three counts of importing merchandise contrary to law, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Massachusetts.
“To make money, the defendants allegedly circumvented mandatory FDA drug inspections and took advantage of vulnerable patients who sought to escape addiction through legitimate treatment,” said Andrew E Lelling, United States Attorney.
According to court documents, Rahim Shafa was a psychiatrist who owned Novel Psychopharmacology with locations in Milford and Natick. Tormosi Shafa was the office manager.
For 10 years, about January 2008-January 2018, the couple allegedly purchased drugs from Hong Kong that are meant to treat alcohol and opioid dependency. The drugs were naltrexone pellet implants, disulfiram pellet implants, and disulfiram injections. The Hong Kong drugs were allegedly sold to Novel Psychopharmacology patients, the U.S. Attorney said.
Shafa is also accused of attempting to cover up the purchases by falsifying shipping documents.
On the money laundering charges, Shafa and Tormosi Shafa each face up to 20 years in prison.
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