The former senior vice president of regulatory affairs for Biopure has been sent to prison with a three-year sentence for lying to a federal judge, claiming falsely that he was diagnosed with colon cancer in an attempt to avoid charges laid out in an SEC lawsuit. The federal suit had alleged that Howard Richman played a role in misleading investors on the chances that the synthetic blood product Hemopure would be approved by the FDA.
Richman pleaded guilty to federal charges of obstruction of justice last spring, admitting to an elaborate ruse to get out of the trial. Richman says he forged a letter and an affidavit from a doctor saying he had colon cancer and once pretended to be the doctor in a call to attorneys.
In addition to jail time, Richman got a $50,000 fine and three more years of supervised release. As for Biopure, the company filed for bankruptcy in July and sold off its remaining assets soon after.
- read the story from the Boston Globe