L.A. files charges on China imports
Executives at two Vernon-based companies face criminal charges for allegedly importing and distributing nearly 90,000 tubes of potentially toxic toothpaste from China, Los Angeles City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo said Thursday.
Between December 2005 and May 2007, Selective Imports Corp. allegedly imported the toothpaste, which Vernon Sales Inc. then resold to several mini-marts and bargain shops, according to a complaint filed Monday. In the last year, 480 of the tubes, labeled Cooldent, made it to Los Angeles store shelves, prosecutors said.
The toothpaste contained diethylene glycol, a poisonous antifreeze ingredient that is banned from entering the U.S. in certain products. In China the chemical is sometimes substituted for glycerin, a sweetener used in cough syrup and other medications. Cough syrup laced with glycol has been blamed for the deaths of nearly 100 people in Panama in the last two years.
Vernon Sales President Kamyab Toofer and Vice President Pejman Mossay were each charged with 14 misdemeanor counts of allegedly receiving, selling and delivering an adulterated drug.
Selective Imports President Frahad Nazarian and Vice President Yones Ghermezi were each charged with two misdemeanor counts of receiving, selling and delivering products containing the chemical.
Each count carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Ghermezi said Thursday that he heard about the charges from reporters and hadn’t received the complaint.
Selective Imports stopped selling the toothpaste in May or June immediately after hearing that it might be tainted, Ghermezi said. The company sent out a voluntary recall notice to customers, including Vernon Sales, and destroyed all existing inventory under the supervision of Food and Drug Administration authorities.
“This came as a shock to us,” Ghermezi said. “I don’t even know what this lawsuit is supposed to mean.”
The company followed protocol every step of the way, Ghermezi said. He had believed that the FDA had cleared both the Chinese exporter, Gold Credit International, as well as the toothpaste brand.
Ghermezi said he hadn’t known what was in the toothpaste and that it wasn’t his company’s responsibility to run independent tests.
FDA officials launched an investigation in May after learning that 74,000 tubes of Cooldent toothpaste had been imported from China into Long Beach. Prosecutors said the investigation revealed that 78,336 tubes of spearmint-flavored Cooldent and nearly 10,000 tubes of a fluoride toothpaste were sold by Selective Imports.
Ghermezi said he had not heard of any customers falling ill after using the toothpaste. The company, which has annual sales of $4 million nationwide, has never before had to recall products, he said.
Vernon Sales didn’t respond to requests for comment.
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