Pradaxa, Clexane, Berodual. 18 people accused of illegal drug trade

The prosecutor's office in Gdańsk submitted an indictment to the court against 18 members of a criminal group committing crimes related to illegal trade in pharmaceuticals with a total value of over PLN 40 million. According to investigators, they operated from 2015 to 2017 throughout the country.

The spokesman for the District Prosecutor's Office in Gdańsk, Prosecutor Mariusz Duszyński, said that the criminal group was founded and led by Marek M. and Jarosław P. Charges were announced to a total of 18 people, including a doctor, the president of the management board of a pharmaceutical wholesaler and a clinic, as well as managers and owners of pharmacies.

The aim of the group's activities was to commit crimes related to the so-called “reverse drug distribution chain”. The practice involved issuing and using VAT invoices and requisitions that proved untrue. These documents concerned the purchase from pharmacies of significant quantities of medicinal products, foodstuffs for particular nutritional uses and medical devices at risk of lack of availability in Poland.

The operation involved the use of three fictitious medical entities formally operating within the structures of a pharmaceutical wholesaler. Based on unreliable demands, the following items were purchased, among others: hard-to-find drugs – including anticoagulants used to prevent stroke, embolism and thrombotic complications (Pradaxa, Clexane, Xarelto), as well as drugs used to treat Parkinson's disease (Madopar) and respiratory diseases with bronchospasm (Berodual).

The purchased medicinal products were then resold to foreign entities. It was determined that medical entities used in criminal activities issued a total of 1,742 demands for medicinal products and medical devices at risk of lack of availability in Poland. On their basis, VAT invoices were issued with a total value exceeding PLN 40 million.

The prosecutor accused the suspects, Marek M. and Jarosław P., of committing the crime of leading an organized criminal group, as well as issuing and using unreliable invoices and requisitions.

The prosecutor accused the remaining suspects of participating in an organized criminal group and issuing and using unreliable invoices and demands.

The prosecutor applied preventive measures to the suspects in the form of police supervision and property bonds in the amount of PLN 5,000. PLN up to 80 thousand zloty.

To cover the threatened penalties and forfeiture of property benefits, the prosecutor applied property security by establishing compulsory mortgages on real estate owned by the suspects with a total value of PLN 1,356,630.

Proc. Duszyński informed that the indictment was prepared by a prosecutor from the Economic Crime Department of the District Prosecutor's Office in Gdańsk on November 4 this year. and referred to the District Court in Gdańsk.

The investigation was conducted by the Central Anticorruption Bureau in Gdańsk under the supervision of the District Prosecutor's Office in Gdańsk.

The penalty for leading an organized criminal group is from one to 10 years in prison. Participation in an organized criminal group is punishable by 6 months to 8 years in prison.

The penalty for certifying untruth in a document in order to obtain financial or personal gain is from 6 months to 8 years in prison. However, violating the ban on distributing medicines in a direction other than to the patient is punishable by 3 months to 5 years in prison. (PAP)

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