3 Plead Guilty in Caviar Smuggling Scheme
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GREENBELT, Md. — Three people and a caviar-importing company pleaded guilty Friday to a smuggling and misbranding scheme that prosecutors said bilked big-name customers, including specialty food chains and American Airlines.
Lynne Battaglia, U.S. attorney for Maryland, said the scam involved smuggling black-market sturgeon caviar into the United States using forged labels and health certificates. In other cases, domestic caviar from protected species was passed off as Russian, she said.
Federal authorities began investigating after a Fish and Wildlife Service inspector at Baltimore-Washington International Airport noticed suspect labels on caviar imported by Rockville, Md.-based U.S. Caviar & Caviar.
Battaglia said the company pleaded guilty to 22 counts and agreed to pay a $10.4-million fine, the largest ever in a wildlife prosecution.
She said the company’s president, Hossein Lolavar, 46, entered his plea in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt. Also entering pleas were Faye Briggs, 53, the company’s sales manager; and Ken Noroozi, 42, president of Kenfood Trading LLC. They pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy, mail fraud and smuggling.
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