U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider announced that two former employees at Southfield, Mich.-based Beaumont Hospital, along with a medical supply distributor, have been charged with wire fraud based upon a scheme to steal medical devices from Beaumont Hospital and then sell them on the internet.
Charged were:
- Paul Purdy, 49, of Beavercreek, Ohio
- Valdet Seferovic, 32, of Auburn Hills, Mich.
- Zafar Khan, 40, of Fenton, Mich.
According to the indictment, from 2003-2017, Paul Purdy was employed at Beaumont Hospital. During his employment, he stole medical equipment from the hospital and resold them via the internet to customers throughout the United States. Purdy never informed the purchasers that the medical devices and/or supplies he sold to them were stolen.
Purdy resigned from the hospital in 2017 and enlisted Valdet Seferovic, an employee of the hospital, to continue the scheme of stealing medical device and/or medical supplies. Serferovic had access to the medical supply and the cleaning and disinfecting rooms at the hospital.
Purdy and Seferovic primarily stole three types of medical devices: (1) cystoscopes, some of which may have been contaminated as they were stolen from the cleaning and disinfecting room after being used in surgical procedures; (2) ophthalmoscopes; and (3) otoscopes. Purdy and Seferovic sold these items via the internet to unsuspecting customers throughout the United States.
According to the indictment, in September 2017, Valdet Seferovic also agreed to steal and sell medical devices and/or medical supplies to Zafar Khan, the owner of Wholesale Medical & Surgical Suppliers of America, LLC. Once Khan acquired the stolen medical devices and/or medical supplies, he sold them to unsuspecting purchasers via the internet.
United States Attorney Schneider states, “These defendants used their employment status to circumvent the safety protocols established by Beaumont Hospital to profit from the theft of medical devices and put the health and safety of the general public at risk in doing so. This indictment should send a clear message that our office is committed to prosecuting anyone who would endanger the health and safety of the general public for personal gain.”
“Medical devices that are removed from their rightful place in a hospital or other medical setting put patients’ health at risk by denying them access to needed diagnostic imaging and treatment,” adds Special Agent in Charge Lynda M. Burdelik from the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Chicago Field Office. “We will continue to investigate and bring to justice those who jeopardize the public’s health for profit. And we commend our law enforcement colleagues for their assistance in this case.”
