A New Jersey businessman has pleaded guilty to selling disinfectant wipes, including to the US government, who falsely swore they could kill $2.7 million of the coronavirus, prosecutors say.
Paul Andrecola, 63, was convicted Thursday of taking advantage of more than 75 desperate customers who believed they could get cleaning products that would protect them from the deadly virus early in the pandemic, the US District Attorney's office said .
"Paul Andrecola's plan played on the fears of the American people at the height of concerns about the transmission of COVID-19," U.S. Attorney Paul Sellinger said in a statement. "Our office is dedicated to protecting the public health and prosecuting, to the fullest extent of the law, those who commit such serious criminal acts."
Andrecola, who owns two stores in Mount Laurel and works for a third, has made disinfectants and wipes that aren't approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, which determines whether a pesticide can be effective at killing a virus, including COVID, he said US Attorney's Office.
He went to great lengths to get the EPA seal of approval, putting another company's EPA registration numbers on his company's products and using other false documents to back up his claims, federal authorities said.
"Andrecola has not only defrauded dozens of people out of millions of dollars, but he has also jeopardized the health of those who relied on his fraudulent virucidal products," said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the US Department of Environment and Natural Sciences resources .
From March 2020 to May 2021, more than 150 sales were made, including to a Delaware police department, a Virginia fire department, a Georgia medical clinic, a New York cleaning supplies company, and a New York school system in Wisconsin.
He also misled federal agencies such as the US Marshals Service, Moody Air Force Base, the US Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Forest Service.
The federal ruling is the largest case of pandemic fraud related to unregistered pesticides nationwide, officials said.
Andrecola, who lives in Burlington County, pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly selling or distributing an unregistered pesticide, wire fraud, and providing false information to the United States.
As part of his plea deal, he will forfeit the $2.74 million he earned from fraudulent sales. He could face more than 20 years in federal prison, as well as additional fines of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
His sentencing will take place on October 11, 2022.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire