Pharmacy Owner and Associate Sentenced for Health Care Fraud and Black Market Prescription Drug Diversion Scheme

A pharmacy owner and an associate were sentenced for submitting false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and California Medicaid (Medi-Cal) for prescription drugs and engaging in a black market prescription drug diversion conspiracy.

Irina Sadovsky, 54, of Calabasas, California, a pharmacist who owned Five Star RX, doing business as Five Star Pharmacy and Ultimate Pharmacy Inc., was sentenced on July 8 to two years and three months in prison. Shahriar “Michael” Kalantari, 56, of Los Angeles, was sentenced yesterday to one year and 11 months in prison.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, from September 2016 to April 2017, Sadovsky conspired to submit fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medi-Cal for prescription drugs that were never dispensed to beneficiaries and instead were provided to her co-conspirators to sell on the black market. Sadovsky’s co-conspirators created fraudulent prescriptions, and Sadovsky recommended the combinations of prescription drugs to be written and checked the eligibility of the patients for reimbursement.

Kalantari, who is not a medical professional, conspired with Sadovsky to defraud Medicare and Medi-Cal by generating false prescriptions. Kalantari’s co-conspirators obtained beneficiary information, which Kalantari then used to write or cause to be written false and fraudulent prescriptions for expensive prescription medication, including drugs used to treat HIV. These medications were not dispensed to patients, but rather were provided to a co-conspirator to sell on the black market.  

A jury convicted Sadovsky in October 2022 of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to engage in the unlicensed wholesale distribution of prescription drugs. A jury convicted Kalantari in November 2022 of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, three counts of health care fraud, and one count of conspiracy to engage in the unlicensed wholesale distribution of prescription drugs.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Assistant Director in Charge Akil Davis of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Timothy DeFrancesca of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Los Angeles Regional Office made the announcement.

The FBI and HHS-OIG investigated the cases, with valuable assistance from the California Department of Justice.

Counsel Alexis Gregorian and Trial Attorney Matthew Belz of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section handled the sentencing hearings. Counsel Alexis Gregorian, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandra Michael for the Central District of California, formerly of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, and Justin Givens, formerly of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, tried the cases.

The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in 27 federal districts, has charged more than 5,400 defendants who collectively have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $27 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.