Charges name 2 importers of toothpaste from China
March 6, 2008, 11:53PM

LOS ANGELES — Criminal charges were filed against officials of two companies that prosecutors say imported and distributed more than 90,000 tubes of Chinese toothpaste containing a poisonous substance, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo said Thursday.

The charges allege that Vernon Sales Inc. and Selective Imports Corp. sold toothpaste containing diethylene glycol, a chemical used in antifreeze and as a solvent.

Vernon Sales President Kamyab Toofer and Vice President Pejman Mossay each were charged with 14 criminal counts of receiving, selling and delivering an adulterated drug.

Selective Imports President Frahad Nazarian and Vice President Yones Ghermezi were charged with two criminal counts each of receiving, selling and delivering products with the chemical known as DEG.

The charges were filed Tuesday, said Frank Mateljan, spokesman for Delgadillo. Each count carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Ghermezi said he had not seen the charges but was shocked by the filing. All the adulterated toothpaste was voluntarily pulled from shelves and from the company's inventory eight months ago and destroyed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last month, he said.

At least 480 tubes were resold by Vernon Sales to stores within Los Angeles, which gave the city attorney's office jurisdiction to investigate, Ghermezi said.

The shipments that came before the seizure in May included 78,336 tubes of spearmint-flavored "Cooldent" toothpaste sold by Selective Imports to distributors around the country, according to the city attorney's office.

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