Seven arrested in connection to RX drug distribution operation
MIAMI – Seven individuals, listed below, were arrested in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties in connection to the operation and dismantlement of a large-scale prescription drug distribution organization:
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Olga Alterman, 49;
- Ronald Diaz, 46;
- Alexander Grichener, 65;
- Roman Grichener, 37;
- Vera Orenshteyn, 48;
- William Washington, 58; and
- Alberto Zisman, 58.
According to records, members of the drug trafficking operation arranged for straw patients to be brought to various doctor’s offices, often utilizing fraudulent identification to obtain multiple prescriptions from different doctors. The ring leader, Alexander Grichener, tasked members to find patients willing to use real personal information for a specific doctor’s office. The group then created fake aliases for the patients to use at other clinics in an effort to obtain multiple sets of opioid prescriptions. The operation also infiltrated doctor’s offices and pharmacies to ensure the transactions were being carried out and undetected.
One of the charged individuals, Olga Alterman, worked at North Dade Wellness Center, a health clinic, assisting the criminal organization obtaining prescriptions. Alterman accepted payment from the drug dealers in exchange for the fraudulent prescriptions. A pharmacist, Vera Orenshteyn, fraudulently filled the prescriptions at a Kmart pharmacy in Boca Raton, Fla., and delivered the pills to the members of the organization, rather than giving the filled prescriptions to the straw patients.
The defendants gathered the prescription drugs at an office site and later distributed the pills throughout South Florida. The defendants face charges of trafficking oxycodone more than seven grams, trafficking oxymorphone more than 28 grams and conspiracy to traffic both drugs.
This investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Broward County Sheriff’s office. It is being prosecuted by the Florida
Attorney General Office of Statewide Prosecution.
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