A Kissimmee man has been arrested in Long Island New York for hacking into the electronic prescribing accounts of doctors in order to illegally order tens of thousands of fraudulent drug prescriptions. Authorities said the prescription pill scam profited as much as $250,000 a month.
21-year-old Devin Anthony Magarian from Kissimmee, denied allegations of orchestrating an elaborate drug ring during a court session on Long Island, where he was apprehended. New York prosecutors said the scam involved hacking into doctors’ e-prescription systems, fabricating vast numbers of illegal drug orders, and then dispatching runners to collect these from various state pharmacies for unauthorized online sales.
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly likened the operation to a digital version of swiping a doctor’s prescription pad, underscoring the exposed weaknesses in the system allowing prescribers to send orders directly to drugstores. According to Donnelly, this case exemplifies the evolution of drug dealers into cybercriminals due to the defendant’s exploitation of these system flaws. She said the suspect made as much $250,000 in a month in the sam
Magarian, currently facing 19 charges including the unlawful sale of controlled substances and misdirection of prescription medications, asserts his innocence through his attorney, Douglas Rankin. The prosecution outlines a complex scheme where Magarian covertly acquired medical credentials to set up sham e-prescription accounts, produced counterfeit patient details, and generated vast numbers of prescriptions for drugs like Oxycodone, Promethazine, and Codeine. These prescriptions were distributed to pharmacies across the East Coast, then collected by a group of runners, and eventually sold online, with Magarian using platforms like Telegram for communication and cryptocurrencies for transactions.
According to Donnelly, the profits from this illicit operation funded an extravagant lifestyle for Magarian and his associates, including high-end vehicles, upscale dining, strip club visits, and courtside seats at NBA games. The scheme came to the attention of Long Island law enforcement in February following a pharmacist’s report of a dubious prescription from a doctor outside the state.
