Indian brothers arraigned in US on fake cancer drug charges

Two brothers from India have appeared in court in connection scheme to sell counterfeit and adulterated cancer medication in the US after being extradited from Singapore.

Avanish Kumar Jha (38) and Rajnish Kumar Jha (35) have both pleaded not guilty to the charges, and are due to go to trial on May 5, according to a Department of Justice statement.

They stand accused of offering to sell prescription drugs to buyers in the US and other markets via their company Dhrishti Pharma International, including a drug labeled as being Merck & Co's cancer immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab).

Undercover agents with the Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI) of the FDA and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) began communicating with the Jha brothers and ordered some of their products, which on analysis were found to contain no active ingredient and in some cases had contaminants.

The brothers allegedly shipped the counterfeit and adulterated drugs from India, accepting various means of payment including wire transfers and direct money exchanges, and packaged the drugs in such a way as to avoid detection by international customs or other regulators. In some cases, they used intermediaries in the US to pick up cash payments.

"The defendants in this case allegedly made hundreds of thousands of dollars while defrauding people who were clinging to hope that a late-stage cancer medication could save their life," said Acting US Attorney Miller.

"Because of this fraud, victims received counterfeit medication that contained none of the cancer-fighting substance they thought they were ordering," he added. "This fraud scheme didn’t just steal money; it stole the prospect of more time with loved ones for those battling cancer."

The two men were arrested in Singapore on April 20, 2023, based on a request from the US government, with an extradition hearing in January 2025 allowing them to be transferred to the US to stand trial.