A Houston man has been sentenced for his role in a scheme to sell fake cancer medication to unsuspecting patients.
A federal jury found Sanjay Kumar, 45, guilty of one count of conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods.
According to court documents, between August 2018 and June 2024, Kumar and his co-conspirators sold tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of counterfeit versions of the prescription drug Keytruda, used to treat cancer, to undercover law enforcement agents.
Keytruda is a cancer immunotherapy treatment approved in the United States for various conditions, including melanomas, lung cancer, head and neck cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma, gastric cancer, cervical cancer, and breast cancer.
Kumar and his co-conspirators sold fake Keytruda that bore counterfeit marks. The medication was chemically inconsistent with real Keytruda and did not contain the active ingredient necessary for the drug to serve its medical purpose.
Kumar received approximately $89,268 for his sales of purported Keytruda with counterfeit marks to undercover investigators.
Before his arrest in Houston, Kumar attempted to arrange for additional sales and shipments of Keytruda into the United States when meeting in-person with undercover law enforcement agents.
Kumar was sentenced to 43 months in prison and one year of supervised release for his crimes.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations in coordination with the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva, U.S. Attorney Nicholas Ganjei, and other officials made the announcement.
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Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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