Canadian Citizen & Online Pharmacy Entrepreneur Sentenced to 4 Years in Counterfeit Drugs Case
Canadian citizen Andrew Strempler, 38, was arrested in Florida in June 2012 and was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud in the United States. In October of that year, he pled guilty to those charges. On January 9th, 2013, Andrew Strempler was sentenced to four years in prison for his role as the founder of Mediplan, which fulfilled online medicine orders for ten different online pharmacies. Mediplan also operated under the name RX North. The charges were the result of a 2005 seizure of drugs shipped by Mediplan into the US. The medications were purported to be made and tested in Canada, but were in fact shipped in bulk from other countries.
Who: U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, FDA.
When: January 9th, 2013; 2005-2012.
Where: Miami, Florida, United States.
How: Packages containing counterfeit medications were intercepted on two occasions by FDA investigators.
Additional details: In 2009, Strempler was charged with professional misconduct by the Manitoba Pharmaceutical Association as a result of investigations into his sales of counterfeit drugs.
Related sources:
“Canadian Citizen Sentenced In Scheme To Defraud Consumers Purchasing Pharmaceuticals Online,United States Department of Justice. January 9, 2013.
“Andrew Strempler, Canadian Internet Pharmacy Pioneer, Jailed For 4 Years In U.S.,”Huffington Post Canada. January 10, 2013.
“Indictment,”United States District Court, Southern District of Florida. June 2, 2011.
“FDA Warns Consumers Not to Buy or Use Prescription Drugs from Various Canadian Websites that Apparently Sell Counterfeit Products,” FDA. August 30, 2006.
“Canadian Online Pharmacy Pioneer Arrested in U.S.,” CBC News. June 15, 2012.
“Manitoba Internet-drug pioneer Strempler arrested in Miami,” Winnepeg Free Press. June 15, 2012.
“ Canadian online pharmacy pioneer arrested in U.S.,” Reuters. June 15, 2012.
“ Internet pharmacy owner charged in $95M fraud scheme,” South Florida Business Journal. June 15, 2012.
“ Canadian Web Drug Pioneer Arrested (Requires login),” Wall Street Journal. June 15, 2012.
“Feds nail Internet pharmacy operator for fake drugs,” Fierce Pharma. June 15, 2012.
“US authorities arrest former Canadian pharmacy owner,” Securing Pharma. June 15, 2012.
“Former online pharmacy entrepenuer detained in Miami,” Winnipeg Free Press. June 20, 2012.