* Internet drug pioneer faces up to 20 years in prison
* U.S. seeks forfeiture of $95 million in proceeds
* Alleged conspiracy dates back to 2005-2006
MIAMI, June 15 (Reuters) – A pioneer of Canada’s online
pharmaceutical trade is under arrest in Florida on charges of
selling prescription drugs in the United States without ensuring
their safety or authenticity.
Andrew Strempler, 39, faces up to 20 years in federal prison
if convicted on the charges.
The government also seeks to recover at least $95 million in
proceeds from his alleged conspiracy to sell unlicensed or
illegal drugs to U.S. customers, according to a grand jury
indictment.
At least some of the drugs, in packages shipped to U.S.
clients between January 2005 and June 2006, were either
counterfeit or misbranded, according to the year-old indictment.
The case against Strempler was made public as he made his
initial appearance in federal court in Miami on Thursday. He was
arrested on Wednesday on charges of conspiracy to commit wire
and mail fraud.
An attorney for Strempler was not immediately available for
comment. He is due to be arraigned next Wednesday.
Strempler is a former head of RxNorth.com, the Internet,
mail and telephone order pharmacy whose operations were the
focus of the indictment.
As part of his online pharmacy scheme, Strempler set up a
facility in the Bahamas to fill orders made through RxNorth with
labels stating that they had been filled by RxNorth in Canada,
the indictment said.
“Strempler and others caused the individual customer
packages to be shipped in bulk from the Bahamas to the United
Kingdom and the Netherlands Antilles, from where the individual
customer packages were mailed to customers in the United
States,” it said.
“It was the purpose of the scheme and artifice of the
defendant to unlawfully enrich himself by selling prescription
drugs to individuals in the United States, falsely representing
that RxNorth was selling safe prescription drugs in compliance
with the rules of regulatory authorities in Canada, the United
Kingdom and/or the United States,” the indictment said.
RxNorth shut down in January 2008 after Strempler sold it to
a competitor.
(Reporting By Tom Brown; Editing by Xavier Briand)
