Multi-agency investigation stops weight-loss pill scheme
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
FDA's Office of Criminal Investigations assists an investigation leading to the arrests of Sengyang "Tom" Zhou and Qingming Hu for allegedly attempting to counterfeit and sell unapproved OTC weight-loss pills to U.S. distributors. FDA said March 25 it collaborated with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Postal Inspection Service to determine the origin of Superslim, 2 Day Diet and other products with the active pharmaceutical ingredient sibutramine for obesity (1"The Tan Sheet" Jan. 5, 2009). An affidavit says Zhou, a Chinese national who was arrested in Hawaii, imported the drugs and was involved with making counterfeit versions of GlaxoSmithKline's weight-loss OTC alli (2"The Tan Sheet" Jan. 25, 2010). Zhou, who operates the Web site 3www.2daydietshopping.com, and Hu, who was arrested in Plano, Texas, each face three years in prison and fines up to $250,000 if convicted in the case that will be prosecuted in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado