A California dentist has been accused of playing a role in a drug trafficking scheme, reports The Mercury News.
Alireza Moheb, DMD, was allegedly trading opioid prescriptions for cocaine, according to a federal complaint cited by The Mercury News. Prosecutors charged the dentist with distributing a controlled substance and conspiracy to acquire prescription pills by fraud.
Dr. Moheb was released July 2 on $100,000 bond. His attorney did not respond to Mercury News' request for comment.
"Between March 7, 2019, and the present, Moheb has written prescriptions for approximately 555 Norco pills to various members of the drug trafficking organization," Amanda Fielding, a special agent for the Drug Administration, wrote in a June 28 affidavit cited by Mercury News. Ms. Fielding later wrote, "Agents believe Moheb did not have a legitimate medical purpose for writing these prescriptions and was doing so to obtain cocaine."
Dr. Moheb previously resolved a formal accusation filed by the Dental Board of California in 2017. It accused Moheb of overcharging one patient, failing to follow another's treatment plan and multiple alleged missteps with a third patient, including failing to properly document a prescription. In August 2019, the state board put Dr. Moheb's license on five-year probation. The dentist also had to pay the board around $27,000.
In February, agents raided Dr. Moheb's home and Walnut Creek, Calif.-based dental office, discovering more than an ounce of cocaine and $45,000 in cash at his home, along with a prescription list containing alleged co-conspirators at his practice, reports Mercury News.