The Gallant Hours

The Illinois Administrator has filed a complaint alleging misconduct that resulted in the attorney’s guilty plea in federal court to misprison of felony.

The alleged facts

Between August 2009 and August 2013, Gallant Pharma International, Inc., hereinafter “Gallant,” was a company engaged in the illegal importation and sale of misbranded and non-FDA approved chemotherapy drugs and injectable cosmetic drugs and devices in the United States. Respondent’s husband, Syed “Farhan” Huda, was the co-founder of Gallant which was initially headquartered at an apartment leased in Respondent’s name in Arlington, Virginia.

Between fall of 2009 and August 2013, Respondent held various roles at Gallant including identifying prospective customers of Gallant’s illegal, misbranded, non-FDA approved drugs, arranging for the importation and distribution of the illegal drugs and acting as Gallant’s office manager. Respondent, and her coconspirators, purchased drugs, subsequently re-sold by Gallant, that were “cold-chain” drugs subject to strict temperature controls requiring drug shipment with dry ice packs to maintain efficacy of the drugs. Respondent was aware that on some occasions, ice packs were melted when shipments of the “cold-chain” drugs were received by Gallant from international shippers yet Gallant re-sold the “cold-chain” drugs to their customers. Finally, Respondent purchased Styrofoam boxes and ice packs for packaging and shipment of misbranded and non-FDA-approved “cold-chain” drugs to customers within the United States and was aware that ice packs were melted at the time the “cold-chain” drugs were received by Gallant customers.

Between August 2009 and January 2013, Respondent used her personal checking account at Capital One to conduct Gallant business in the United States, including wire transfers of funds to suppliers and trans-shippers of misbranded and non-FDA approved drugs and devices.

At her guilty plea

In her plea agreement, Respondent admitted that she held various roles at Gallant including office manager, identifying prospective customers for Gallant’s misbranded, non-FDA approved drugs, and arranging for the importation and distribution of the drugs. Included as the imported drugs were injectable chemotherapeutic agents, injectable cosmetic fillers, injectable agents used to treat side effects of chemotherapy; many of which were subject to federally mandated strict temperature controls which were not complied with by Gallant.

The complaint states that the attorney was sentenced to a nine-month prison term. (Mike Frisch)