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Tennessee Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy Charge
Edward Manookian, 63, of Hendersonville, Tenn., and former owner and President of Melanocorp, Inc., was found guilty of conspiring to defraud the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and to smuggle goods from the United States in violation of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA).
According to the plea agreement, Manookian admitted that Melanocorp sold Melanotan II (MII), a drug that had not been approved by the FDA, as an injectable tanning product. The company claimed that MII could reduce skin cancer rates, despite the FDA warning that MII could not be distributed without FDA approval.
Manookian admitted that Melanocorp continued to sell MII both domestically and abroad until April 2009, despite the FDA warning, and sold over $929,000 worth of MII following receipt of the FDA warning letter.
Manookian also admitted that Melanocorp advertised its MII as being manufactured in the United States, despite the fact that Melanocorp sold MII that had been imported from China. Melanocorp employees routinely mislabeled the contents of packages containing MII in an effort to avoid detection by U.S. Customs officials.
Manookian is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Todd J. Campbell on June 26, 2015, and faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count.
Two other former employees of Melanocorp, Brian Manookian, 34, of Nashville, and Karen Manookian, 31, of New York City, each pleaded guilty to one count of violating the FDCA by distributing MII in interstate commerce.
The case was investigated by the FDA-Office of Criminal Investigations and the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney William F. Abely.
Key Facts
- State: Tennessee
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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