BEVERLY HILLS—On Tuesday, November 15, Shahriar “Michael” Kalantari, 55, of Beverly Hills was convicted by a federal jury for his role in generating false prescriptions in a $723,000 health care fraud and drug diversion scheme from 2016-2017.
The U.S. Department of Justice indicated in a press release on November 16, Kalantari’s co-conspirators obtained beneficiary information for him. He used that information to write prescriptions for expensive prescription drugs including those used to treat HIV.
The co-conspirators submitted claims to Medicaid and Medicare through their own two pharmacies and the prescription drugs were never dispensed to the beneficiaries but sold on the black market. Irina Sadovsky, owner and pharmacist in charge of Five Star RX 16438 Vanowen St #101 and The Ultimate Pharmacy 16438 Vanowen St, both located in Van Nuys, CA.
Assistant Chief Alexis Gregorian and Trial Attorneys, Justin Givens and Alex Michael of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.
Sadovsky was tried separately with a sentencing hearing scheduled for February 3, 2023, in downtown Los Angeles.
“The Department of Justice, the Office of Public Affairs, Assistant Attorney General, Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney for California’s Central District, Martin Estrada, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office, Donald Alway, and Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, Timothy B. DeFrancesco made the announcement. The FBI and the HHS-OIG investigated the case, which was brought as part of the Los Angeles Stike Force, Supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. The California Department of Justice provided valuable assistance. Assistant Chief Alexis Gregorian and Trial Attorneys Justin Givens and Alex Michael of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case,” reads the press release.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 24, 2023. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years prison time for each count of healthcare fraud conspiracy and an additional five years for the unlicensed distribution counts. A federal judge will determine any considerations in U.S. sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
