Three years after the indictment of Rhode Island Beef and Veal, Michael A. Quattrucci will, in July, stand for sentencing after pleading guilty on two counts of defrauding customers.
Quattrucci, the president and treasurer of the company is also charged with using an official USDA mark of inspection on beef
Continue Reading Sentencing for Rhode Island Beef and Veal defendant set for as early as July 26
After just five days of trial testimony, the United States v Paul Kruse is now in the hands of a Texas jury.
Trial testimony in the federal court of the Western District Court in Austin, TX, moved much faster than predicted before the trial began with jury selection on Aug.
Continue Reading Jury deliberates over charges against Paul Kruse in Blue Bell criminal case
Spanish authorities have uncovered what they believe to be one of the largest criminal networks for the production and illegal distribution of whiskey.
La Guardia Civil and the Spanish Tax Agency began Operation Fuco at the beginning of summer this year.
The network had established its main bases of operations
Continue Reading Spain uncovers alleged whiskey fraud
A year ago the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 vote that USDA can keep secrets about its most costly program.
It was last June that the Supreme Court denied the Sioux Falls Argus Leader’s Freedom of Information Act request about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP for
Continue Reading USDA spends $5 million on SNAP fraud investigation SD newspaper would have done for free
With information abounding on the health benefits of breast milk for infants, a growing number of under-producing mothers are eschewing formula and instead turning to online marketplaces to buy breast milk directly from other moms. In the past year, somewhere around 55,000 women sold their excess breast milk online, up
Continue Reading As Online Sales of Breast Milk Rise, Experts Warn of Dangers
During a nationwide teleconference on Monday Chinese Premier Li Keqiang urged “strict market supervision and harsh penalties” to improve food safety and assure costumers that something like the melamine milk scandal will never happen again. “Perpetrators must pay such a high price that they can not afford,” said Keqiang, according
Continue Reading After Latest Scandals, Chinese Premier Urges Tighter Food Safety Controls
Agricultural ministers meeting in Brussels this week agreed that criminal activity stretching across the European continent is behind the horsemeat scandal. In response, they’ve called for still more DNA testing of the continent’s meat and meat products. The accompanying infographic provided by the Australian Food Safety Institute shows the
Continue Reading Infographic Shows Horsemeat Stats, Scandal Timeline
A man who misrepresented chemical fertilizer as organic has pleaded guilty in federal court, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California.
Peter Townsley, owner of California Liquid Fertilizer in the Salinas Valley, admitted to defrauding his organic farmer customers by saying his fertilizer, Biolizer XN
Continue Reading ‘Organic’ Fertilizer Maker Pleads Guilty to Fraud
Harold Chase, 54, of Springfield, OR is facing up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
His crime was one count of wire fraud for falsely labeling regular corn as organic corn in a $450,000 sale.
He pleaded guilty to the offense and will be scheduled next
Continue Reading Guilty Plea in Sale of Conventional Corn as Organic
Fraud was the price of food safety in Connecticut after Hurricane Irene.
Over the past weekend, an angry Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said the state was investigating “multiple incidents of possible fraud” by state residents, including some state employees, who took money intended for low-income people to replace food
Continue Reading Fraud Followed Hurricane Irene Food Safety Program
