Feds: Thieves stole used urine tubes from Beaumont, sold them on eBay, Amazon

In what prosecutors are describing as an inside-job, two former Beaumont employees and a businessman have been charged with stealing medical devices and supplies from a hospital and reselling them on the internet, including tubes that had been previously used in surgeries.

Among the stolen goods were thin tubes that are inserted through the urethra to examine the bladder, some of which may have been contaminated as they were stolen from the cleaning and disinfectant room after being used in surgical proceedings, prosecutors allege. The suspects also stole sponges, adhesives and devices that are used to inspect eyes and ears, they allege, and sold them on eBay and Amazon to unsuspecting buyers.

It was a lucrative scheme, prosecutors said, alleging the trio made more than $560,000 selling the stolen hospital goods in a conspiracy that started in 2017 and was busted with the help of PayPal transactions.

According to the indictment unsealed Thursday, the three suspects are charged with wire fraud and conspiracy, which carry up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Charged are:

• Beaumont employee Paul Purdy, 49, of Beavercreek, Ohio.
• Beaumont employee Valdet Seferovic, 32, of Auburn Hills.
• Zafar Khan, 40, of Fenton, owner of Wholesale Medical & Surgical Suppliers of America.

The defendants could not be reached for comment.

Beaumont Health said it is aware of the investigation and continues to "fully cooperate with law enforcement."

“This kind of theft does a disservice to more than just Beaumont — it does a disservice to the community," Beaumont Health communications director Mark Geary said in a statement Thursday. "We have confidence in the legal process and trust a just result will be achieved." 

Geary added: "Beaumont has enhanced security protocols and implemented additional checks and balances across the organization to reduce the chances of something like this happening again.”

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According to the indictment, Purdy, who worked at Beaumont from 2003 to 2017, stole devices and supplies from the hospital and resold them via the internet to customers nationwide, but never informed them that the goods were stolen.

After Purdy resigned from the hospital in 2017, authorities said, he recruited another hospital employee, Seferovic, to continue the scheme. Seferovic had access to the medical supply, cleaning and disinfectant rooms at the hospital, they said, and used that access to steal medical supplies and devices.

According to the indictment, Purdy paid Seferovic for the items he stole, and then resold them on the internet. Sometime in fall 2017, Seferovic brought Khan, the medical device distributor, into the scheme.

According to the indictment, Seferovic would meet Khan at various locations in metro Detroit, where he would hand off the stolen hospital goods to the medical distributor, Khan would then sell them online.

The trio, prosecutors said, primarily stole three types of medical devices: cystoscopes, thin tube with a camera that are  inserted through the urethra and into the bladder; ophthalmoscopes,  instruments for inspecting the retina and other parts of the eye,  and otoscopes,  instruments for inspecting the ears.  

“These defendants used their employment status to circumvent the safety protocols established by Beaumont Hospital to profit from the theft of medical devices and put the health and safety of the general public at risk in doing so," U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider stated in announcing the charges.

Special Agent in Charge Lynda Burdelik, of the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Chicago office, added:  “Medical devices that are removed from their rightful place in a hospital or other medical setting put patients’ health at risk by denying them access to needed diagnostic imaging and treatment. We will continue to investigate and bring to justice those who jeopardize the public’s health for profit."

The three defendants are scheduled to make initial appearances in federal court on Jan. 21.

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com.