Two Canadians Sentenced for Distributing Counterfeit and Adulterated Botox to Local Doctors

St. Louis, MO – KAMALDEEP SANDHU and NAVDEEP SANDHU, both residents of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, pled guilty today and were sentenced for distributing counterfeit, misbranded and adulterated Botox® into the United States, including multiple shipments to two doctors located in St. Louis County, Missouri.  Both defendants entered their plea before United States District Judge Carol E. Jackson, in St. Louis, MO.  Kamaldeep Sandhu received a sentence of 24 months of imprisonment, while Navdeep Sandhu received a sentence of 3 months.

According to defendants’ plea agreements, defendants operated a sophisticated wholesale drug distribution business involving multiple persons in Canada, Panama and Turkey.  Defendants sourced Botox® from Turkey and shipped it to multiple U.S. doctors in Missouri and other states.  According to the label for FDA approved Botox® Cosmetic, unopened vials of Botox® Cosmetic should be stored in a refrigerator at temperatures between 2° to 8° Celsius before dispensing to patients.  Defendants’ drugs were adulterated because defendants’ business did not keep the Botox® Cosmetic at constant cold temperatures, and sometimes shipped and stored these drugs with no refrigeration or insulation.  Further, some of the Botox® Cosmetic sold by defendants had counterfeit exterior packaging, and the manufacturing lot numbers on the exterior of the drugs’ cartons did not match the lot numbers on the drug vials inside the cartons. 

FDA issued several public safety alerts about these events.  This ongoing investigation has led to a number of related prosecutions in the District, including Dr. Erick Falconer, Greg Martin, Ozkan Semizoglu and Sabahaddin Akman.

"Today's sentencing demonstrates that we will continue to pursue and bring to justice those who violate the law and jeopardize public safety by shipping adulterated and misbranded drugs into the United States," said Catherine Hermsen, Special Agent in Charge, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations, Kansas City. "I would like to thank our law enforcement partners in INTERPOL Washington, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for their assistance in this case."

This case was investigated by FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations, with assistance from a number of other domestic and foreign law enforcement organizations.