Pharma executive sentenced in dietary supplements fraud
A FEDERAL court in Texas has sentenced a former dietary supplement company executive for his role in fraudulently selling popular workout supplements.
Last week, acting North Texas Federal Prosecutor Prerak Shah announced the sentencing of Sitesh Patel, 37, a resident of Irvine, California on a conspiracy charge relating to the misbranding of the supplements.
The District Judge Sam A Lindsay sentenced former SK Laboratories Vice President Patel to 41months’ imprisonment and one year of supervised release.
The court previously ordered Patel’s former company, SK Laboratories, to forfeit $6m in connection with the case.
According to documents filed in the case, Irvine, California based Patel played a key role in developing and manufacturing the popular workout and weight loss supplements known as Jack3d and OxyElite Pro, which were distributed by Dallas-based USPlabs.
In pleading guilty in 2019 to conspiracy to introduce misbranded food into interstate commerce, Patel and several of his co-defendants admitted that they imported substances with false and misleading labeling to avoid law enforcement and regulatory agency attention.
Patel also pleaded guilty to introduction of misbranded food into interstate commerce. The misbranding charges relate in part to OxyElite Pro, which was recalled in 2013 in the wake of an investigation by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) into whether the supplement caused liver injuries in consumers.
An indictment returned by a Dallas federal grand jury in 2015 against Patel and four other individuals associated with USPlabs alleged that the defendants sold some of their products without determining whether they would be safe to use.
‘Consumers should not have to question whether the dietary supplements they find on store shelves will cause them physical harm,’ said acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton.
‘This case demonstrates the department’s commitment to working with our agency partners to prosecute individuals and companies that defraud the public and place consumers at risk.’
‘FDA regulation of the manufacturing and distribution of dietary supplements helps ensure the safety of American consumers. Illegal schemes to subvert FDA’s oversight and trick the public into buying a product that does not meet FDA standards create a serious threat to public health,’ said Judy McMeekin, Pharm D, FDA’s Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs.
‘We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate and bring to justice those who put profits ahead of the health of US consumers.’
‘The defendant knowingly profited by deceiving American consumers, causing harm to them by concealing the true ingredients of a product intended to improve the very health it damaged,’ said acting Special Agent in Charge Mark Pearson of the IRS-Criminal Investigation, Dallas Field Office.