Latebreakers: Operators of on-line pharmacy charged with fraud, racketeering

Three doctors and two pharmacists are among 18 people indicted on federal fraud and racketeering charges for allegedly operating an on-line pharmacy that sold more than $126 million worth of Rx drugs. The 313-count indictment, unsealed earlier this month in San Diego, charged the 18 defendants with operating an on-line pharmacy called Affpower. The Costa Rica-based company took more than one million orders for Rx drugs between August 2004 and June 2006, the indictment states. Helping the doctors and pharmacists operate the on-line pharmacy were a pharmacy operator, a pharmacy administrator and manager, two recruiters of doctors and pharmacies, a credit card processor, and eight Web site operators, authorities said. The charges carry a maximum 20-year prison term and millions of dollars in fines.