11 indicted in Internet prescription drugs scam
By S.A. REID
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 09/20/06
Federal authorities say Norcross-based Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals and 11 people connected to it acted as "snake oil salesmen," peddling on the Internet nearly $20 million worth of adulterated, misbranded pills produced under substandard and unsanitary conditions in Belize.
Hi-Tech and the defendants allegedly opened the facility in 2002 and for the next few years marketed 24 different illegally produced pharmaceuticals as cheaper, generic Canadian versions of popular U.S-made brands using Internet "spam" advertising.
The list of knock-offs produced in Belize includes steroids Oxymethelone and Stanozolol, controlled drugs Ambien, Valium and Xanax, and prescription drugs Viagra, Cialis, Lipitor and Vioxx, according to the 50-page federal indictment released Wednesday.