Distributor of unapproved foreign prescription drugs indicted

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A British man was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury for his alleged involvement in the illegal shipments of prescription drugs not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to co-conspirators in the United States. The investigation was conducted by the FDA's Office of Criminal Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration's Group 33 Diversion Task Force, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The Arlington County Police Department provided assistance.

James Quinn, 73, of Surrey, United Kingdom, and his two companies – one in the United Kingdom and one in Switzerland – face five felony counts in U.S. district court. They are charged with conspiracy, importation contrary to law, two counts of introduction of misbranded drugs into interstate commerce and unlicensed medical wholesaling. He is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 15.

According to the indictment, Quinn served as a supplier of non-FDA-approved drugs through his Switzerland-based company, Atlantic Pharmaceuticals AG, and he served as a trans-shipper of non-FDA-approved drugs through his United Kingdom-based company, World Medical Limited. The indictment alleges that, as a trans-shipper, Quinn received non-FDA-approved drugs from countries such as India and the United Arab Emirates, broke those shipments into smaller packages, affixed false customs declarations and sent the packages to the United States on behalf of co-conspirators who sold non-FDA-approved drugs to medical practices across the United States. Quinn's co-conspirators allegedly included Gallant Pharma International Inc., which pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of Virginia to 12 felony offenses Dec. 2, and Pharmalogical Inc. (aka Medical Device King), whose co-owners, William Scully and Shahrad Rodi Lameh, await trial on a 73-count indictment in the Eastern District of New York.

Criminal indictments are only charges and not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty.