MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Three South Florida residents have been sentenced to 18 years in prison after being found guilty of running an elaborate fraud scheme that cheated U.S. manufacturers of infant formula, eye-care products, and other FDA-regulated items out of more than $100 million.
Feds said that between 2013 and 2018, Johnny Grobman, 48, Raoul Doekhie, 53, and Sherida Nabi, 57, secured deep price discounts for infant formula and other items by lying to the U.S. manufacturers of the products.
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Authorities said Doekhie and Nabi, who who are married, told the manufacturers that they were purchasing the products to ship overseas, to Suriname, often in connection with purported government procurement contracts they held in Suriname.
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Feds said that the defendants did not have government procurement contracts and never intended to export the products to Suriname.
Instead, Grobman and others sold the products in the United States for millions of dollars, which the three defendants later split among themselves.
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Authorities said this case is the second large-scale prosecution by the South Florida U.S. Attorney’s Office and FDA-OCI targeting fraud schemes related to the so-called “gray market,” which involves the diversion and re-sale of certain goods that were not intended for distribution in the United States.
