WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th July, 2020) Two Ukrainian nationals face up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of importing fake cancer and hepatitis drugs, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) said in a press release on Monday.
"Ukrainian nationals Maksym Nienadov, 36, and Volodymyr Nikolaienko, 33, pleaded guilty... in the Southern District of Texas to conspiracy, trafficking in counterfeit drugs and smuggling goods into the United States. Nienadov also admitted to introducing misbranded medicine into the United States," the release said.
During an undercover investigation that began in 2018, US authorities paid Nienadov $2,400 for a purported shipment of the cancer drug Keytruda. A subsequent test by the manufacturer Merck showed the drug was fake, the release said.
In late 2018, law enforcement negotiated the purchase of two boxes of purported Epclusa tablets - a drug used to treat hepatitis C - from Nienadov and Nikolaienko for $6,000. The manufacturer Gilead identified the packaging and contents as counterfeit, the release added.
Authorities arrested the two when they visited the United States in 2019 to arrange more drug deals, according to the release.
Nienadov and Nikolaienko face up to 20 years in prison and a possible $5 million fine at a November 4 sentencing by US District Judge Lee Rosenthal, the release said.
