The Biopatid Case: Millions of Dollars, Underground Production, and Maria Trifonova's Clinic in the Capital
14 September 2026 18:45Recently, law enforcement officials uncovered a large-scale illegal operation that netted its beneficiaries at least $5 million. The criminal group “capitalized” on the high demand for weight-loss and health-improvement products. The fraudsters organized the underground production of the drug “Biopatid” and sold it throughout Ukraine.
At the center of this criminal case is Maria Trifonova, the owner of a clinic in the capital. She was the one who promoted the products of this “pharmaceutical business” and even conducted training sessions for her colleagues on how to use the drug.
Details of this shocking expose, as well as the potential liability of the organizers of this criminal scheme, are covered in this UA.News report.
The scale of the network: 250 searches across all regions
On September 12, 2026, the Dnipropetrovsk Prosecutor’s Office and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) conducted large-scale searches of individuals implicated in the case involving the counterfeiting and distribution of a fake weight-loss drug. The criminal network operated on a large scale—selling its drug in various regions of the country. Law enforcement officials carried out 250 searches in Kyiv and the Kyiv region, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Mykolaiv, Rivne, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, and Chernihiv.
During the searches, authorities seized the counterfeit drug and raw materials used to manufacture it, equipment from the clandestine laboratory, packaging materials and finished printed materials, documentation and rough notes, as well as cell phones and computer equipment. Authorities also found cash in various currencies totaling nearly 15 million hryvnias, luxury cars, watches, and other property in the suspects’ possession.
According to the investigation, the organized group consisted of more than 70 people. Among the suspects were the organizer of the scheme and owner of the underground laboratory; the owner of a well-known Kyiv clinic that promoted the drug; a customs broker; laboratory workers; packers; and sales and advertising managers.
Subsequently, the media named specific individuals involved: investigators identified Anatoliy Cherkassky as the organizer of the “business,” and Maria Tryfonova, owner of the Kyiv-based Tryfonova MD Clinic, as the drug’s main “promoter.”
As a result of the special operation, law enforcement officials charged 27 suspects with the production, transportation, shipment, storage, and sale of knowingly counterfeit medications.
The
case was classified under Part 2 of Article 321-1 of the Criminal Code. The suspects face up to ten years in prison, along with a ban on engaging in certain activities for up to three years and the confiscation of property.
A pretrial investigation is currently underway—law enforcement officials are gathering data on the participants in the scheme, the supply chains for raw materials, the production volumes of these drugs, as well as information about the victims.
Underground Laboratory
To counterfeit the drugs and make a quick profit, the fraudsters targeted the niche of popular weight-loss medications. The drug in question is “Biopatid”—an injectable medication based on tirzepatide, which is also known on the market under the brand names Mounjaro and Zepbound.
The mastermind behind the scheme launched the illegal production of the drug without any permits or quality control. The main active ingredient—tirzepatide of unknown origin—was smuggled in from China. To conceal the true purpose of the raw materials and circumvent customs regulations, a “complicit” customs broker declared the goods as a dietary supplement.
The raw
materials were delivered to an underground laboratory, where they were mixed with other components to produce the drug “Biopatid.” The clandestine production facility was located in the Kyiv region under unsanitary conditions and without any quality control.
The finished drug was handed over to accomplices, who sold it throughout Ukraine. The counterfeit product lacked the necessary permits, state registration, and proper certification.
The perpetrators launched an entire marketing campaign: a website and social media pages; they actively advertised the product and offered it to beauty salons, clinics, and healthcare professionals in various regions of Ukraine, and also enlisted bloggers, actors, and other well-known figures.
A
gross violation of all applicable regulations also occurred during the shipment of the counterfeit product—it was delivered to customers without maintaining the proper temperature conditions.
The story of the counterfeit weight-loss drug began around January 2026, as evidenced by a report from the State Service of Ukraine on Medicines and Drugs Control, cited by the SBU.
The report states that the drug BIOPATID (TIRZEPATIDE), 60 mg/2 ml, batch 9922, listed as manufactured by UNIKKA PHARMA LTDA, It was not officially imported into Ukraine. This means that the supply chain and storage conditions for this specific batch are unknown. Based on this, the State Service of Ukraine on Medicines and Medical Devices classified this batch as counterfeit and unregistered.
Investigators calculated the profits from this illegal “pharmaceutical business”: the cost of raw materials and additional components was approximately $17, while the finished product was sold for up to $1,200. According to preliminary data, since the beginning of 2026, products totaling more than $5 million have rolled off the assembly lines of the underground production facility.
Who Is Maria Trifonova
?
Amid a large-scale investigation into the illegal manufacture and sale of counterfeit “Biopatid,” Maria Trifonova, the owner of the well-known Kyiv clinic Tryfonova MD Clinic, was detained and then transferred to the Dnipropetrovsk pretrial detention center. She is known to the general public as a dermatologist, cosmetologist, and entrepreneur, as well as an ambassador for a number of cosmetics brands.
She entered the world of aesthetic medicine in 2008. And in 2011, she “began building her world of beauty.” On the clinic’s website, Maria Tryfonova writes: “We guarantee you the highest level of service, safety, and quality of procedures from experienced beauty experts!” She also adds that in recent years she has spoken at many international conferences: in South Korea, Azerbaijan, France, Spain, and the Baltic states.
She considers her company’s innovative products to be
one of her greatest achievements: “...I consider bioidentical pellet therapy to be the greatest breakthrough in medicine. So in 2019, I took a huge risk! This is a challenge to endocrinology. This is a challenge to gynecology. After all, here we still believe that testosterone inevitably leads to hair loss in both women and men.”
However, according to law enforcement officials, it was Maria Trifonova who played a key role in the scheme to distribute the counterfeit product. Investigators believe she knew the drug was illegal but promoted it among colleagues and at professional training sessions, as well as through social media. It is worth noting that Trifonova has a history of scandals that paint her in a light quite different from that of a dermatologist simply passionate about her work.
Lawyer and former Member of Parliament Vitaliy Kupriy stated that the drug “Biopatid” is linked specifically to Maria Trifonova, who is the partner of Ruslan Cherkassky, the former deputy head of the State Customs Service. He was also called “one of the symbols of corruption at customs.” After his scandalous dismissal in 2023, Ruslan Cherkassky, according to journalistic investigations, became a hryvnia billionaire. According to information from the “Schemes” project, Cherkassky was also involved in the production of cigarettes with counterfeit excise stamps.
Ukrainian media also speculate that Anatoliy Cherkasskyi, who is implicated in an investigation into the counterfeiting of a weight-loss drug, is a relative of the former customs official.
Earlier in 2024, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau opened two cases involving Ruslan Cherkassky and his inner circle. The first concerns alleged illicit enrichment, while the second criminal case essentially involves the laundering of criminal proceeds. Investigators believed that Cherkassky’s common-law wife, Maria Trifonova, was likely involved, as she allegedly transported cash abroad.
What is particularly cynical
about the promotion of the counterfeit weight-loss drug is that the participants in the scheme were aware of the side effects and health problems their patients experienced after taking the drug. Yet they continued to recommend and sell it to people who were trying to improve their appearance and health.
The Story of Hormone Pellets
Following a high-profile exposé on social media, stories began to surface one after another from women who claim to have been harmed by counterfeit drugs or the negligent behavior of staff at Maria Trifonova’s clinic. One such story, involving the implantation of a bioidentical pellet, was published in installments by a blogger named, according to the released documents, Vera Pomazan.
“This story began with a medical procedure I trusted as a patient, but ended with several surgeries, enormous medical expenses, and physical and psychological exhaustion. But the worst was yet to come. When I tried to figure out what had happened based on my experience and the documents I had, the situation escalated into years of pressure, threats, surveillance, searches, attacks, and attempts to silence me,” the influencer wrote.
The
woman published documents, as well as photos and videos, which, according to her, attest to the deterioration of her health following the administration of the experimental drug.
“I have kept medical records, test results, photographs, materials, and other evidence of those events. I’m telling this story not out of revenge and not to pass judgment. I’m telling it because silence shouldn’t become the norm when a person feels they’ve been treated unfairly. And I know I’m not the only one,” the blogger concluded.
The
woman also urged others not to remain silent if they’ve faced similar problems after being prescribed such medications, in order to prevent such widespread abuse in the future.
