A doctor from Lexington, Massachusetts, has been sentenced in a Boston federal court for his involvement in an international money laundering scheme related to the importation of illegal and misbranded drugs. Rahim Shafa, 66, received a three-year prison sentence followed by three years of supervised release. Additionally, he was ordered to pay $115,765 in restitution and a fine of $150,000.
Shafa's conviction in February 2024 came after a 14-day jury trial where he faced charges of international money laundering, illegal importation of merchandise contrary to law, and receiving and delivering misbranded drugs. His indictment was initially issued by a federal grand jury in August 2020 and later updated with a superseding indictment in June 2021.
Operating as a psychiatrist who owned Novel Psychopharmacology (Novel), Shafa engaged in the scheme from January 2008 through January 2018. He purchased naltrexone pellet implants and disulfiram pellet implants and injections from Hong Kong. While these substances are FDA-approved for treating alcohol dependence and alcohol and opioid dependence respectively, their implantable pellet form is not approved by the FDA.
To facilitate the scheme, Shafa falsified shipping documents to hide that the packages were sent from Hong Kong to Massachusetts. Packages containing naltrexone pellets were misleadingly labeled as ‘plastic beads in plastic tubes.’ These drugs were then sold to patients at Novel and implanted without full knowledge of potential risks. Testimonies during the trial highlighted patient infections and complications resulting from these procedures.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy alongside Fernando P. McMillan of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investigations and Roberto Coviello from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). The investigation received support from various law enforcement agencies including Massachusetts State Police, Milford Police Department, and Lexington Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John T. Mulcahy, Howard Locker, and Kaitlin J. Brown.