Dr. David Brody, clinical president of Done Health, was arraigned in U.S. District Court in San Francisco following his arrest in San Rafael. He pleaded not guilty to federal charges such as conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler authorized Brody’s release from custody. Brody, who has an office in San Anselmo, could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

Brody’s codefendant is Ruthia He, the founder and chief executive of Done Health’s parent company, Done Global Inc. She was arrested in Los Angeles on Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.

If convicted, both defendants face upward of 20 years in federal prison.

Brody and He are accused of running a telemedicine operation that gave customers easy online access to the psychiatric medication Adderall and other stimulants for no medical purpose. They allegedly enriched themselves by arranging for the prescriptions of more than 40 million pills and generating more than $100 million in revenue since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland condemned the alleged misconduct.

“Those seeking to profit from addiction by illegally distributing controlled substances over the internet should know that they cannot hide their crimes and that the justice department will hold them accountable,” he said in a statement released by the prosecution.

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said the defendants “allegedly disregarded the first rule of medical care — do no harm — in order to maximize profits, and there is no place for such fraud in our health care system.”

“The indictment levied against these individuals sends a clear message: the Department of Homeland Security, our Homeland Security Investigations personnel, and our partners across the federal government will hold accountable those providers and prescribers who prey on their patients,” Mayorkas said in a released statement.

The federal indictment focused on the business practices of Done, a self-described “digital health company,” that ran a monthly subscription service for customers. The company offered services such as refills of medication for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder as well as online treatment and diagnosis.

He is accused of having an “auto-refill” option that enabled Done subscribers to request an automatic refill of medication every month.

Prosecutors allege that Done paid “prescribers” or medical professionals to diagnose Done customers with ADHD and to write them prescriptions for controlled substances such as Adderall.

“He, Brody, and others paid and caused lucrative payments to be made to Done prescribers to cause them to sign prescriptions that were not for a legitimate medical purpose in the usual course of professional practice,” the indictment says.

The indictment also alleges that prescribers issued prescriptions for customers based on brief communications with them, and that some customers lacked examinations or a preexisting relationship with a practitioner.

“Instead of properly addressing medical needs, the defendants allegedly made millions of dollars by pushing addictive medications,” Anne Milgram, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said Thursday. “In many cases, Done Global prescribed ADHD medications when they were not medically necessary.”

Done is also accused of defrauding pharmacies and health insurance providers by submitting false claims to hide unlawful prescriptions of the medications. Investigators reported that the insurers paid more than $14 million.

The defendants are also charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice when Done underwent federal and media scrutiny for their business practices in 2022. Authorities accused them of attempting to hinder the federal grand jury investigation of their company by deleting company documents and communications.

Brody specializes in mental health and in treating attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, according to his Done company biography. The defendant holds a medical degree from the University of California, Irvine, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University.

Brody’s attorney, Naomi Chung, said she looks forward to presenting his case in court.

“Dr. Brody worked to promote access to medical treatment for those with ADHD in the face of both widespread stigma and the unprecedented challenges of a global pandemic,” she said.

Brody’s next court hearing is set for July 24.

He’s attorney, Vicki Chou, could not be reached for comment. A Done company spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

The financial damage was higher than the $29 million lost by 156 San Francisco residents in 2023.

In the FBI’s San Francisco territory — which includes much of the Bay Area, the North Coast, Santa Cruz County, Monterey County and San Benito County — victims reported nearly $400 million in losses to online investment scams last year.

The agency said Santa Clara County had the most losses: $152 million from 446 reported victims. Other loss totals in the Bay Area last year included $57.5 million from 312 victims in Alameda County; $56.5 million from 221 victims in Contra Costa County; $51.7 million from 108 victims in San Mateo County; and $3.2 million from 42 victims in Sonoma County.

Nationwide, victims reported $4.5 billion in losses from online investment fraud, a 38% increase from the prior year.

The numbers are based on complaints filed with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Robert Tripp, the special agent in charge at the FBI’s San Francisco office, said a typical scam involves inducing a person to pay a criminal who promises a new, innovative product that will generate “amazing” returns. The promise could be a blend of fiction and a little fact, Tripp said.

After payment, the scammer would either fail to invest the victim’s money as promised, or would only invest a small part of the payment while pocketing the rest of the money.

“This isn’t a traditional investment of a listed company where the company will make projections about profits and maybe those projections will come true,” Tripp said. “The investment fraud schemes that we worry about — there is no good faith.”

The FBI also reported that Americans lost $3.94 billion in cryptocurrency investment fraud cases last year. Tripp said criminals prey on investors’ ignorance.

“Everybody has heard the word ‘cryptocurrency,’ and it’s a buzzword that 90-year-old senior citizens can throw around comfortably,” he said. “But when you start getting into the nitty-gritty of specific cryptocurrency, their backing in the block chain, projected rates of return in particular areas under certain conditions — nobody knows that. It’s just a black box that magically makes money.”

Sam Bankman-Fried, a widely known figure in cryptocurrency, was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison last month following fraud and conspiracy convictions. Customers in his firm, FTX, lost an estimated $8 billion.

The FBI also said that the Marin losses last year included $53,332 scammed from “phishing” victims. The agency describes phishing as messages sent by text, email or telephone that trick victims into disclosing personal information, financial information or login credentials.

People who believe they are victims of online financial schemes should contact the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, Tripp said. He said the agency monitors the website around the clock.

Tripp added that victims of scams that involved bank-to-bank wire transfers mighty be able to recover their money with the FBI’s help if they quickly file reports with the agency.

Mark Dennis Tauzer and son Trevor Hansen Tauzer are accused of safety violations that led to the death of 21-year-old Carlos Del Toro. In 2021, the Marin County District Attorney’s Office filed a felony charge of causing his death. Both defendants pleaded not guilty.

If convicted of the felony charge the Tauzers could face up to three years in prison and a $1.5 million fine for their Yolo County-based business, Tauzer Apiaries Inc.

In June, the defendants’ attorneys began efforts to reduce the felony charge to a misdemeanor, according to court records. In December, the case was reassigned to Judge Kelly Simmons. On Feb. 15, the defense attorneys jointly filed a memorandum on their request for the reduction.

In their filing, attorneys Peter Goodman and Geoffrey Rotwein asked Simmons to consider “the nature and the circumstances of the charged offense, the impact being charged with responsibility for the death of an employee has wrought on their lives, and the traits of character evidenced by the defendants throughout their lives” in making her decision.

A court hearing was held Thursday to review the case. Simmons postponed it to March 12 since another trial was scheduled in her courtroom Thursday. The defendants and their attorneys attended the hearing via teleconferencing.

Prosecutor Geoff Iida declined to comment on the case after the hearing.

The case focuses on the events of March 30, 2018 at the Tauzer worksite in Bel Marin Keys.

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) reported that Del Toro was using a Bobcat that had a forklift attachment to move bee boxes. He was crushed between the vehicle’s cage and forklift after he stepped on the foot control while exiting the Bobcat, according to state investigators.

Del Toro succumbed to his injuries after he was hospitalized for a week, Marin County coroner’s staff reported. His death was ruled accidental.

OHSA investigators later charged Tauzer Apiaries with four safety violations and fined them $94,500 in October 2018. The inspection case is still open and the four violations remain contested by the company, according to an OSHA report.

The state referred the case to the Marin County District Attorney’s Office two years after Del Toro’s death, which prompted them to file criminal charges against the Tauzers.

Mark and Trevor Tauzer could not be reached for comment. Goodman declined to comment after the Thursday hearing. Rotwein could not be contacted.

The incident happened at about 10:30 a.m. Police searched the Shoreline Parkway store and found nothing suspicious, Lt. Scott Eberle said.

“We are still investigating this,” Eberle said. “It was a phone call that came in with a threat, but it was determined to be unfounded.”

Employees were allowed to go back inside after about an hour.