A Mesa-based healthcare provider has filed suit against its former CEO, alleging she “systematically plundered” company resources to fund a competing business and lavish personal lifestyle. Copa Health filed the lawsuit March 23 against Dr. Shar Najafi-Piper, her husband Brian Piper, and Najafi-Piper’s company Roya Health, with an amended filing on April 6.
Alleged Scheme and Spending
According to the lawsuit, Najafi-Piper charged “hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more, in personal expenses to Copa between 2021 and 2025,” including luxury vacations, premium sports tickets, designer goods, personal security details, and limousine services. Court documents detail specific expenditures: $374,725 for Arizona Cardinals football tickets, $250,000 for Young Presidents’ Organization dues and events, and “more than $200,000 on airfare and hotels” at resorts worldwide, including Le Royal Monceaux in Paris, the Ritz Carlton in New Orleans, and Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills.
Copa alleges that while serving as CEO—earning approximately $700,000 annually plus a $20,000 car allowance—Najafi-Piper co-founded Roya Health in September 2022 as a direct competitor offering similar services to the same client base. The suit claims she misrepresented Roya Health to board members and staff as a “partnership” or “joint venture” with Copa. During this period, Najafi-Piper “typically showed up at Copa’s offices in Mesa once per week,” according to the filing.
Alleged Misappropriation of Information
Copa also accuses Najafi-Piper of taking confidential business information, trade secrets, proprietary forms, policies, and procedures to build Roya Health “at Copa’s expense and detriment.” The lawsuit states she “used a combination of misrepresentations, fraud, and ‘consulting’ fees to keep her practices concealed from Copa’s Board of Directors” over upwards of five years.
Copa’s Board voted unanimously to terminate Najafi-Piper’s employment three months prior to the filing, after learning she had been using company resources to fund her lifestyle and had formed a competing business. Najafi-Piper and Roya Health had until April 16 to respond to the amended suit or risk default judgment, with a preliminary hearing also scheduled for that date. No criminal charges have been filed. Najafi-Piper did not respond to requests for comment on the allegations.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.eastvalleytribune.com/suit-claims-scottsdale-ceo-pillaged-healthcare-company/article_724ddbc8-4ac2-5816-ac52-14580d0ef14a.html