Two Las Vegas Doctors found guilty of stem cell fraud

Alfred Sapse (Photo: 8 News Now)

Two Las Vegas Doctors found guilty of stem cell fraud

Ralph Conti and Alfred Sapse are the two Las Vegas Doctors found guilty of stem cell fraud.

Conti, 51 and Sapse, 86 scammed patients out of more than $1 million by promising cures for a host of diseases; including multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy that they said their stem cell injections could cure.

The two thieving doctors injected people with stem cells from placentas. Infected cells.

Worse, they knew they were infected and, there have been reports, that one of the doctors even told  a patient that the treatments would not work.

Unfortunately, when someone is very ill or a loved family member is, people are vulnerable and can fall victim to schemes such as the one that Conti and Sapse cooked up.

Sapse is not even a licensed Doctor in the United States.

He claimed to be a retired foreign physician and persuaded patients to undergo a procedure that involved implanting placental tissue into their abdomen. Sapse also persuaded investors to hand over large amounts of money, though none of the money was used to research the procedure.

The money apparently went into his private account.

Sapse brought Conti in on the scheme and Conti began injecting patients. Some of the patients developed infections.

The elder, so-called “physician” ,seems to be the brains behind the scheme and reportedly paid Conti only a small amount of money, keeping most of the proceeds for himself.

Frighteningly, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned them to stop in November 2006, and sent a letter, but that did not happen

They fined a relatively small amount of money and continued to defraud vulnerable victims.

The thieving due was found guilty of all charges against them in Federal Court today and face long jail sentences.  Based on Sapse’s advanced age, he will likely die while incarcerated.

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