December 19 ,
2005
Metabolife Charged for Tax Fraud
The outcome of a tax inquiry by the US Attorney's office has ended with a criminal fine of $600,000. This was levied against Metabolife International, the San Diego-based herbal drug maker that made headlines because if its ephedra containing diet supplements. In addition to the monetary fine, Metabolife was sentenced to a three-year probation. The criminal charges were due to the company's fraudulent income tax returns.
Metabolife owner William Robert Bradley had failed to report a substantial amount of income that came in from “off-the-books” accounts and elsewhere. The US Attorney Carol Lam recently stated that the company had cheated on their returns, in order to profit from the unclaimed income.
Metabolife is currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy after a series of misfortunes including hundreds of lawsuits filed against the company. The lawsuits alleged that the company sold a bad product that resulted in the deaths and injuries of several hundred people. Metabolife's assets were sold off last month in order to make a $12 million fund to pay out the lawsuit awards.
Metabolife was one of the most publicly blamed companies for the rash of ephedra deaths and injuries during the 1990s. In 2004 the FDA banned ephedra containing products, but overturned the ban in 2005, though only for small amounts of the herbal supplement.
The government has stated that it will not seek the criminal award before the pending lawsuits by individuals, including those that remain to be filed.
For
more information on ephedra side effects, including
Metabolife side effects, please contact us to confer
with an attorney.
|
