bababooey
01-22-2010, 02:29 PM
Next week we'll be told that scallops are really skate wings.:eek:
http://www.nj.com/starledger/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1264044308281690.xml&coll=1
Fish importer faces prison for role in bait and switch
Thursday, January 21, 2010 Joe Ryan
STAR-LEDGER STAFF
The fillets were sold up and down the East Coast, posing at supermarkets and restaurants as grouper and sole.
But in truth, the fish had another name, the former head of a New Jersey seafood importing company said yesterday. It was actually a cheap variety of catfish from Vietnam that the ex-CEO, Thomas George, said was mislabeled as part of an effort to avoid paying more than $63 million in tariffs to the U.S. government.
http://ads.undertone.com/lg.php?bannerid=107196&campaignid=6553&zoneid=5111&UTCBLOCK=86400&UTSCCAP=25&UTLIA=1&referer=1&cb=1cf7b69c10&bk=kwny12&id=98r9jg0ckw848soowk0w8wgc0
George, the 61-year-old founder of Sterling Seafood Corp., pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Newark to importing and selling falsely labeled goods. He admitted that between 2004 and 2006, he imported more than 11 million pounds of the catfish, also called swai or basa. But in every case, he called it grouper or soul.
"Did you know that the sole and grouper labels were false?" asked Zahid N. Quraishi, an assistant U.S. attorney.
"Yes," said George, who lives in Old Tappan.
The practice of passing cheap fish off as its more expensive relatives is becoming increasingly common in the seafood trade, industry officials say. Many white and flaky fillets taste similar, especially when battered and fried or blackened with spice. Rockfish is sometimes sold as red snapper; mako shark passes for swordfish; and arrowtooth flounder is touted on menus as Dover sole, according to a 2009 congressional study.
"This is an extremely common and a serious problem," said Craig S. Tucker of National Warmwater Aquaculture Center at Mississippi State University.
Sterling Seafood Corp., based in the Bergen County borough of Cresskill, imports dozens of types of seafood from Asia and South America, including red snapper, mackerel and rock lobster, according to the firm's website. George, who emigrated from India in 1975 and is a U.S. citizen, founded the firm in 1989 along with his brother.
Beginning in 2003, the United States imposed a tariff on all imports of Vietnamese catfish as part of an effort to keep overseas companies from undercutting the prices of U.S. catfish producers. But that tariff doesn't apply to grouper and sole.
Beginning that same year, George began working with a seafood distribution company in Vietnam to import the catfish under other names, authorities said. As part of the scheme, they forged purchase orders, health certificates, manifests, packing lists and other documents, authorities said.
The investigation by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement began as early as 2004 after U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents tested some of the fish and realized it wasn't grouper, authorities said. George stepped down as CEO of the company last year, his lawyer, Dennis D.S. McAlevy said. George has agreed to pay $50,000 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation as part of his deal with prosecutors.
Federal Magistrate Judge Patty Shwartz released George on $250,000 bond and scheduled his sentence for April 28. He faces up to five years in prison, Quraishi said.
"This office will continue to protect fair competition in the marketplace and consumers' right to know what they are purchasing," said U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.
http://www.nj.com/starledger/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1264044308281690.xml&coll=1
Fish importer faces prison for role in bait and switch
Thursday, January 21, 2010 Joe Ryan
STAR-LEDGER STAFF
The fillets were sold up and down the East Coast, posing at supermarkets and restaurants as grouper and sole.
But in truth, the fish had another name, the former head of a New Jersey seafood importing company said yesterday. It was actually a cheap variety of catfish from Vietnam that the ex-CEO, Thomas George, said was mislabeled as part of an effort to avoid paying more than $63 million in tariffs to the U.S. government.
http://ads.undertone.com/lg.php?bannerid=107196&campaignid=6553&zoneid=5111&UTCBLOCK=86400&UTSCCAP=25&UTLIA=1&referer=1&cb=1cf7b69c10&bk=kwny12&id=98r9jg0ckw848soowk0w8wgc0
George, the 61-year-old founder of Sterling Seafood Corp., pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Newark to importing and selling falsely labeled goods. He admitted that between 2004 and 2006, he imported more than 11 million pounds of the catfish, also called swai or basa. But in every case, he called it grouper or soul.
"Did you know that the sole and grouper labels were false?" asked Zahid N. Quraishi, an assistant U.S. attorney.
"Yes," said George, who lives in Old Tappan.
The practice of passing cheap fish off as its more expensive relatives is becoming increasingly common in the seafood trade, industry officials say. Many white and flaky fillets taste similar, especially when battered and fried or blackened with spice. Rockfish is sometimes sold as red snapper; mako shark passes for swordfish; and arrowtooth flounder is touted on menus as Dover sole, according to a 2009 congressional study.
"This is an extremely common and a serious problem," said Craig S. Tucker of National Warmwater Aquaculture Center at Mississippi State University.
Sterling Seafood Corp., based in the Bergen County borough of Cresskill, imports dozens of types of seafood from Asia and South America, including red snapper, mackerel and rock lobster, according to the firm's website. George, who emigrated from India in 1975 and is a U.S. citizen, founded the firm in 1989 along with his brother.
Beginning in 2003, the United States imposed a tariff on all imports of Vietnamese catfish as part of an effort to keep overseas companies from undercutting the prices of U.S. catfish producers. But that tariff doesn't apply to grouper and sole.
Beginning that same year, George began working with a seafood distribution company in Vietnam to import the catfish under other names, authorities said. As part of the scheme, they forged purchase orders, health certificates, manifests, packing lists and other documents, authorities said.
The investigation by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement began as early as 2004 after U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents tested some of the fish and realized it wasn't grouper, authorities said. George stepped down as CEO of the company last year, his lawyer, Dennis D.S. McAlevy said. George has agreed to pay $50,000 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation as part of his deal with prosecutors.
Federal Magistrate Judge Patty Shwartz released George on $250,000 bond and scheduled his sentence for April 28. He faces up to five years in prison, Quraishi said.
"This office will continue to protect fair competition in the marketplace and consumers' right to know what they are purchasing," said U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.