33 one former call center worker: This particular former employee was an American who took a part-time job at the firm while studying at an Israeli university. “We all thought that we were an outsourcing company for something in the States,” he said.

34 If a state changed its rules: At one point, Oz maintained a chart listing sixteen states that regulated Ultram, Soma, and Fioricet, RX Limited’s primary drugs, at the state level. It included the phone numbers for each state’s board of pharmacy. USA v. Berkman, Document 948, April 3, 2017, at 17.

34 Boaz and Tomer Taggart told their employees: Boaz Taggart did not respond to inquiries when I contacted him while in Israel through a local reporter. Tomer Taggart declined to speak with the reporter about RX Limited, and to meet or speak with me. Details of their involvement were provided to me by Oz and other employees, and confirmed in Israeli corporate records and court documents including, for example, USA v. Berkman, Document 1008, February 14, 2017, at 1027.

35 I’m your boss now: The original chat transcripts were unavailable, but these lines were reconstructed by Oz in interviews.

36 the Hard Rock Cafe: A number of former employees told me that Le Roux favored the Hard Rock in Makati as a meeting place. When I showed a photo to a manager in 2015, he could only offer a faint memory of having seen Le Roux dine there.

36 to avoid taxes: USA v. Berkman, Document 774, January 17, 2017, at 8–9.

38 $2 to $3 commission . . . a large map: USA v. Berkman, Document 1005, February 9, 2017, at 63, 156.

CHAPTER 5

39 government-issue five-by-seven notebooks: Interview with Steven Holdren.

40 Cartadmin.com and a second site called SystemsCA.com: USA v. Berkman, Document 1004, February 8, 2017, at 247.

40 a telephone directory: Ibid. at 265.

40 international body called ICANN: icann.org.

41 a domain registrar operating in the Philippines called ABSystems: ABSystems was in fact the only registrar operating in the Philippines at the time. See Au Hipol, “IP Views: What’s in a Domain Name?,” BNU IP Views, May 27, 2008.

41 ABSystems’ own web page: The site, at yournamemonkey.com, gave the superficial impression of being a typical registrar, like Network Solutions or GoDaddy. It was only when you attempted to actually find and buy a site that there appeared to be no way to do so.

42 an endless variation of drug-related domain names: As of 2009, the watchdog group LegitScript would document that RX Limited was connected to thirty-two thousand different pharmaceutical marketing and sales sites, per a database I received from John Horton, the founder and CEO of LegitScript.

42 subpoena to ICANN: USA v. Berkman, Document 1004, February 8, 2017, at 267.