March 28, 2017: 3 Canadians and their Vancouver Company Charged with Conspiring to Sell Foreign-Made Drugs to Western Pennsylvania Pharmacists
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U.S. Department of Justice Press Release
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For Immediate Release |
United States Department of Justice Western District of Pennsylvania |
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PITTSBURGH – Three residents and a company of Canada have been charged by Information in Pittsburgh with conspiring to distribute wholesale quantities of misbranded prescription drugs made for the foreign market and money laundering, Acting United States Attorney Soo C. Song announced today.
According to the Information, Tony Lee, Billy Lee and Tarn Uppal, all Vancouver, B.C. residents, operated Quantum Solutions, SRL (hereafter, Quantum), a company registered in Barbados. Quantum purchased prescription drugs made for foreign markets and sold wholesale quantities to three pharmacists in Western Pennsylvania. Quantum purchased the drugs from suppliers located in Turkey, Great Britain and other countries. The defendants arranged for these misbranded drugs to be sent to a re-shipper in the United Kingdom (UK). The UK re-shipper was instructed to unpack the drugs, repack them in several small packages, put misleading labeling and shipping documentation on them and understate the dollar value of the contents in order to create the appearance to U.S. Customs and Border Protection that the drugs were health care products for the personal use of the addressee. The small packages were sent to Washington State and New York State re-shippers known to the U.S. Attorney, where they were once again unpacked and repacked for delivery in the United States. Wholesale quantities of these misbranded drugs intended for use in foreign markets were purchased by three pharmacists in Western Pennsylvania. The wire transfers, checks and credit card payments from the pharmacists traveled from Western Pennsylvania to Canada and Barbados. None of the re-shippers were licensed in the United States to conduct this business. None of the prescription drugs met FDA approval because they were made and labeled for use outside of the United States. The information against Quantum seeks forfeiture of $4,235,000.
Assistant United States Attorney Nelson P. Cohen is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The United States Food and Drug Administration-Office of Criminal Investigations and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations conducted the investigation leading to the filing of these Informations.
A criminal Information is an accusation.
A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. The filing of an Information generally indicates that the defendant intends to enter a guilty plea.