Ex-Biopure exec pleads guilty to faking cancer (to avoid SEC fine)

[UpInArms]

Source: Associated Press

BOSTON – A former executive of Biopure Corp. pleaded guilty Wednesday to an obstruction of justice charge for pretending he had terminal cancer and admitted he had impersonated his own doctor to dodge a federal lawsuit filed by securities regulators.

Howard Richman, a former vice president at Biopure, admitted he had instructed his lawyers to tell a judge he was gravely ill with colon cancer. He also admitted to posing as his doctor in a phone call with his lawyer so that she would tell the judge that his cancer had spread and that he was undergoing chemotherapy.

<snip>

Assistant U.S. Attorney James Dowden told Judge Mark Wolf that if the case had gone to trial, prosecutors would have presented evidence that Richman had fabricated the story about having cancer in an attempt to wriggle out of a lawsuit filed in 2005 by the Securities and Exchange Commission and to avoid paying a large civil fine.

The SEC complaint accused Biopure, Richman and three other executives of misleading investors over the prospects of winning approval for a synthetic blood product called Hemopure.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had rejected clinical trials because of safety concerns about Hemopure, a blood substitute made from cow hemoglobin.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090311/ap_on_bi_ge/biopure_fake_cancer

[DRoseDARs]

1. Erm, what? How was THAT supposed to work?

"I have EBCA (Explosive Bleeding Cancer of the Ass) so please don't investigate me. kthxbai! ^_^" ? :shrug:

[Robbien]

4. It worked for a while. He lied in 2005 He didn't get charged till this year.

So for a while the SEC gave him a pass.

[davidinalameda]

2. just remember that karma can be a bitch

[seafan]

3. Oh, we remember Biopure: They hid FDA drug concerns about its blood substitute.

"..Hemopure associated with higher incidence of death and cardiac arrest....", December 14, 2006



Ex-Biopure exec pleads guilty to faking cancer

By DENISE LAVOIE, AP Legal Affairs Writer
March 11, 2009

BOSTON – A former executive of Biopure Corp. pleaded guilty Wednesday to an obstruction of justice charge for pretending he had terminal cancer and admitted he had impersonated his own doctor to dodge a federal lawsuit filed by securities regulators.

Howard Richman, a former vice president at Biopure, admitted he had instructed his lawyers to tell a judge he was gravely ill with colon cancer. He also admitted to posing as his doctor in a phone call with his lawyer so that she would tell the judge that his cancer had spread and that he was undergoing chemotherapy.

Richman, 57, declined to comment to reporters after changing his plea to guilty in U.S. District Court. But during the hearing, he admitted to committing the acts prosecutors alleged — that he had lied from October 2006 through July 2007 when he repeatedly caused his lawyers to say he had cancer.

.....

Assistant U.S. Attorney James Dowden told Judge Mark Wolf that if the case had gone to trial, prosecutors would have presented evidence that Richman had fabricated the story about having cancer in an attempt to wriggle out of a lawsuit filed in 2005 by the Securities and Exchange Commission and to avoid paying a large civil fine.

The SEC complaint accused Biopure, Richman and three other executives of misleading investors over the prospects of winning approval for a synthetic blood product called Hemopure.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had rejected clinical trials because of safety concerns about Hemopure, a blood substitute made from cow hemoglobin.

.....

In August 2008, Richman reached a settlement with the SEC that required him to pay a $150,000 fine and barred him from serving as an officer or director of any public company.

Richman, a native of Pearland, Texas, was indicted on the obstruction charge in September 2008.

So many criminals, so few prosecutors...

[bluedigger]

5. So if I understand this correctly

A crime is a crime...unless you are ill. Then it's ok...except for those suffering from drug addiction or engaging in acts of consentual sex with the same sex, which is still prosecutable in many jurisdictions...

Alrighty then. Thanks for clearing that up, DOJ!


White collar crime! Why not?!