Lawsuit accuses two Queens pharmacies of selling fake HIV drugs

A man who has already been convicted of carrying out other medical fraud schemes is now being accused of selling fake HIV medication to clients at two pharmacies in Queens.

Peter Khaim, who was found guilty in other cases involving fraud and money laundering, is the target of a lawsuit lodged by Gilead Sciences accusing him of putting fake medication into real bottles of Gilead-branded medication at 71st RX at 107-27 71st Ave. in Flushing and Best Scripts at 18508 Union Turnpike Suite 109 in Fresh Meadows, according to CNBC. 

“In some cases, the bottles had their contents emptied, were refilled with the wrong medication, and then were re-resealed using a different material than Gilead’s authentic tamper-evident seals,” the complaint said, according to CNBC. “The co-conspirators then sold the counterfeit bottles with counterfeit patient information documents, counterfeit caps, and/or counterfeit pedigrees or invoices.”

Gilead attorneys, private investigators, and representatives from the New York City Sheriff’s Office seized more than $750,000 worth of counterfeit medication at Khaim’s home and at the two pharmacy locations, the lawsuit alleges.

Most of the seized medication involved Biktarvy, which treats HIV, and Descovy, which prevents HIV. When authorities seized the counterfeit medication at the pharmacies, they found lighter fluid, which is typically used to remove labels before resealing the medication for others to use, according to CNBC.

The complaint further noted that Khaim and others manufactured and trafficked the drugs to pharmacies in both New York and New Jersey.

Khaim, 44, was sentenced in July to almost nine years behind bars for partnering with his brother, Arkadiy Khaimov, to carry out an $18 million scheme in which they conspired to launder money after they used New York-based pharmacies to file false Medicare claims and launder the proceeds, according to QNS. In that case, Khaimov was hit with a six-year sentence.

The New York City Sheriff’s Office could not be reached for comment on Aug. 30. Attempts to reach Khaim’s Queens pharmacies were unsuccessful.