A federal grand jury in Houston has indicted an Indian national for allegedly selling and shipping counterfeit oncology pharmaceuticals into the United States.
According to court documents, Sanjay Kumar, 43, of Bihar, India, and his co-conspirators are accused of arranging the sale and shipment of fake versions of oncology pharmaceuticals, including Keytruda, to individuals in the United States. Genuine Keytruda is a cancer immunotherapy approved in the U.S. for 19 different indications, such as melanoma, lung cancer, head and neck cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma, gastric cancer, cervical cancer, and breast cancer. Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC holds the exclusive right to authorize the manufacture of Keytruda for interstate commerce.
Kumar was arrested on June 26 in Houston after traveling to the United States to negotiate further expansion of his business selling counterfeit Keytruda in the U.S. market.
Kumar faces one count of conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit drugs and four counts of trafficking in counterfeit drugs. If convicted, he could face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri; U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani for the Southern District of Texas; Special Agent in Charge Mark Dawson of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Houston; and Special Agent in Charge Charles Grinstead of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Office of Criminal Investigations Kansas City Field Office made the announcement.
HSI and the FDA investigated the case.
Trial Attorneys Jeff Pearlman and Bryce Rosenbower from the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Hileman for the Southern District of Texas are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.