Smugglers of harp seal oil and honeybee royal jelly sentenced

A Walnut couple was sentenced to home detention this week and their import and distribution companies were fined after they pleaded guilty to smuggling harp seal oil and honeybee royal jelly into the U.S. from China, according to federal prosecutors.

Lynn Leung, 61, the former president and co-owner of the UBF Group, was ordered Monday to serve five years of probation, which includes a year of home detention, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer also ordered Leung to pay a $20,000 fine. Leung is banned from working as a manager, officer or director of any business entity — including her own family companies — for five years, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Daniel Fu, 65, Leung’s husband and former vice president of UBF Group, received five years’ probation, including six months of home detention, and was fined $20,000. During the probation period, Fu also is banned from working as a manager, officer or director of any business entity.

The wife and husband owned and operated a number of local dietary supplement import and distribution companies doing business as Nu-Health Products Co., including UBF Group and ASN Group.

“Laws protecting wildlife are also designed to protect consumers, who deserve to know that products are legally obtained and do not pose a threat to their health,” said U.S. Atty. Eileen M. Decker. “Prosecutions like this one demonstrate the commitment of my office and our partner regulatory agencies to stop crimes motivated by greed that threaten our environment.”

Raymond Aghaian, who represents Leung and the UBF Group, said Leung had pleaded guilty to a count of introducing misbranded food into interstate commerce with the intent to defraud or mislead.

Leung knew about false import records prepared by a former employee of UBF Group and did not take action to prevent it, according to the plea agreement. The employee caused the introduction of millions of capsules of honeybee royal jelly, a dietary supplement, falsely described to U.S. Customs and Border Protection as “aloe vera.”

The couple admitted the royal jelly was falsely described in import and export documents because their supplier, Sirio Pharma Co., did not have the regulatory certificates required for export of the honeybee products from China, according to the attorney’s office.

UBF Group pleaded guilty to submitting false records for importing the seal oil and to entry of goods falsely classified, Aghaian said.

An employee of UBF Group submitted purchase invoices and import documents that falsely described 4 million seal oil soft capsules as “fish oil soft capsules,” according to the plea agreement. Because of the misclassification, UBF Group avoided paying $119,000 worth of import duties.

Harp seals are protected by the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act, which forbids importation of any seals or seal parts, except for scientific or educational purposes, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

UBF Group was ordered to pay a $230,000 fine, forfeit $941,000 in proceeds obtained from criminal activity and pay $119,000 in restitution for import duties avoided.

ASN Group previously pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense of introducing mislabeled food into interstate and foreign commerce and was sentenced to pay a $30,000 criminal fine.

Sirio Pharma Co., which had pleaded guilty to wildlife trafficking, was ordered to pay $500,000 in fines and penalties.

Sirio Pharma admitted that employees of Nu-Health Products asked the supplier to falsely label certain products, including harp seal oil and honeybee products and invoice shipments of various dietary products in a way that helped the company disguise the costs of the products.

“This case is a victory for protected species everywhere,” said Eileen Sobeck, assistant administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries department. “Taking enforcement actions against those who violate the laws protecting marine species will always be a top enforcement priority.”

Follow me on Twitter @brittny_mejia