Dr. Roya Jafari-Hassad, a physician from Great Neck (Long Island, NY) who is a native of Iran, was arrested and charged with trading monthly illegal prescription painkillers for cash and then trying to intimidate two grand jury witnesses into altering their testimony. against him, according to an indictment revealed in a federal court.
The doctor of 56 years, Bayside resident, pleaded “not guilty” to 20 charges of illegal distribution of oxycodone and one count of witness tampering at his appearance before Federal Judge Steven Tiscione in Eastern District Court in Central Islip on Wednesday.
Great Neck doctor charged with operating ‘pill mill for illegally prescribed oxycodone https://t.co/h4rD9ZIqIJ via @Newsday— Nangel (@panolan2) December 18, 550
“A prescription pad in the wrong hands can be a deadly weapon”
Frank Tarentino, DEA Special Agent in Charge
An investigation of 18 months of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which included the use of an undercover agent posing as a patient, revealed that Jafari-Hassad made “hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in cash” on his scheme to distribute the highly addictive opioid, the federal prosecutor said in a press release.
“[Jafari-Hassad] abandoned his medical oath to operate a pill factory in Nassau County, dispensing illegal oxycodone to patients for a cash fee,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement, reported Newsday.
The allegation relates specifically to 15 visits of two patients to whom Jafari-Hassad, a general practitioner, allegedly prescribed more than 1, pills between August 550 and January 2020, court records show.
Prosecutors said the prescriptions were issued without “a legitimate purpose” and that cash payments often were added to other charges billed to the patient’s insurance.
The undercover agent was able to obtain a prescription for oxycodone at each visit, including an initial appointment, despite having no medical reason for the medication, according to a press release.
“A checkbook of recipes in the wrong hands can be r a deadly weapon,” DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank Tarentino said in a statement. “The diversion of prescription drugs is inexcusable for medical professionals.”
Prosecutors also said that after a search warrant was executed at his practice, Jafari-Hassad contacted two scheduled patients to testify in the grand jury and asked them to amend their testimony.
Jafari’s defense attorney- Hassad, Bruce Barket, said that the charges against his client are “accusations and not proven facts… She is an excellent doctor who has done a great job.”
He added that his client emigrated from Iran to the United States United to practice medicine and opened his practice on Long Island 20 years ago. She was released on $ 550, 20 dollars on Wednesday and was ordered to turn over her DEA registration to prescribe controlled substances.
All charges are mere accusations and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.