BOSTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Massachusetts), published as received.
BOSTON – A 2011 BMW M3 automobile and a 2010 luxury boat owned by Barry J. Cadden, former shareholder and head pharmacist of New England Compounding Center (NECC), were seized by federal agents after warrants for the assets were issued by the U.S. District Court in Boston.
The vehicle was seized yesterday from outside Cadden’s residence in Wrentham, Mass., and the boat was seized in North Kingston, R.I. today after both were identified in the indictment against Cadden as forfeitable property.
In December 2014, Cadden was charged in a 131-count indictment related to the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak caused by contaminated vials of preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate that NECC manufactured. Specifically, Cadden is charged with 25 acts of second-degree murder in Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, among other violations.
In addition, on May 22, 2015, the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a civil forfeiture complaint against funds owned by Cadden and his wife, as well as those owned by Carla and Douglas A. Conigliaro. Carla Conigliaro, former shareholder of NECC, and her husband, Douglas Conigliaro, are also charged in the indictment with transferring millions of dollars the same month that NECC surrendered its pharmacy license and one month prior to NECC’s petition for bankruptcy in December 2012. The Conigliaros also allegedly transferred millions of dollars more after the bankruptcy court issued two orders prohibiting NECC shareholders from transferring any assets. The assets named in the civil forfeiture complaint, which exceed $18 million, were seized pursuant to seizure warrants issued in December 2014.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Jeffrey Ebersol, Acting Agent in Charge of the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations; John Gibbons, U.S. Marshal of the U.S. Marshals Service, District of Massachusetts; and Jamie A. Hainsworth, U.S. Marshal of the U.S. Marshals Service, District of Rhode Island, made the announcement today. The forfeiture case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Veronica M. Lei of Ortiz’s Asset Forfeiture Unit. The criminal investigation is being conducted by the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service; Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General; and U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The criminal case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys George P. Varghese and Amanda P.M. Strachan of Ortiz’s Health Care Fraud Unit, and Justice Department Trial Attorney John W.M. Claud of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch.
