CONCORD, N.H. – Mustafa H. Arif, a Pakistan national with dual citizenship in Pakistan and the United Kingdom, has been indicted for his alleged role in a large-scale international scheme to defraud individuals of over $12 million.
Arif is accused of operating a series of websites promoting a variety of drugs and claiming these products would cure many serious diseases. These websites targeted individuals from New Hampshire as well as throughout the world, according to Acting United States Attorney Donald Feith.
The indictment charges Arif with one count of wire fraud and two counts of shipping misbranded drugs in Interstate Commerce. The charges relate to hundreds of websites controlled by Arif while operating in Pakistan. The websites promoted the sale of drugs claiming to cure, mitigate, and treat numerous diseases and included materially false and misleading information about the efficacy of these drugs.
The websites, many of which included allegedly falsified clinical research, promoted drugs for a number of serious and sometimes incurable illnesses, including anemia, mental retardation, ADHD, Bell’s palsy, and bulimia.
Arif, who appeared in United States District Court today for arraignment, was previously arrested in February 2014 in New York City pursuant to a criminal complaint. He was thereafter transported to New Hampshire to answer those charges and has remained in custody since then.
This case is scheduled for trial on June 16, 2015. If convicted on the pending charges, Arif faces up to 20 years in prison for the wire fraud count and up to 3 years in prison for each count of introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce.
Related Federal Cases
- Mustafa Hasan Arif, Wire Fraud, Concord NH, 2023 · New York
- Albert Melin Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud and False Tax Returns, NY,… · North Carolina
- Timothy Roberts, Wire Fraud, Florida 2024 · Illinois
- Mary Sosa, Welfare Benefit Fraud, New Hampshire 2024 · Maryland
- Christopher Hayes, Wire Fraud, Rhode Island 2024 · Illinois
Key Facts
- State: New Hampshire
- Category: Cybercrime|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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