A judge has set bail at $1 million for the billionaire founder of an opioid medication maker that has faced increasing scrutiny from authorities across the U.S. over allegations of pushing painkiller prescriptions.
Insys Therapeutics founder John Kapoor was arrested earlier Thursday in Phoenix. Kapoor and other defendants in the fraud and racketeering case are accused of offering bribes to doctors to write large numbers of prescriptions for a fentanyl-based pain medication meant only for cancer patients with severe pain.
Most people who received prescriptions did not have cancer.
U.S. Magistrate Michelle Burns said Kapoor must wear electronic monitoring and surrender his passports if he posts bail.
Defense attorney Brian T. Kelly said after the hearing that his client is not guilty and will fight the charges.
Kapoor came to the U.S. for postgraduate studies and for a time was listed among Arizona's richest billionaires.
Forbes several years ago listed John N. Kapoor, the founder of Insys Therapeutics, as having a worth of $2.4 billion. That worth has fallen amid indictments of numerous fellow Insys executives. But Forbes still listed Kapoor's worth at $1.75 billion on Thursday as he went to U.S. federal court in the fraud and racketeering case.
