LOUISIANA COMPANY FINED $1 MILLION FOR FALSIFYING USDA CERTIFICATES

LOUISIANA COMPANY FINED $1 MILLION FOR FALSIFYING USDA CERTIFICATES    The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service ordered a Metairie, La.-based corporation and its principal officers to pay more than $1 million in fines.
   Crown Products Inc. president Kee Lee and vice president Jeffrey Teague were sentenced to five years probation and each ordered to pay $250,000 in fines, after pleading guilty to counterfeiting and using phytosanitary certificates. The company, which exports agricultural commodities including dry beans and popcorn worldwide, was ordered to pay a separate fine of $500,000.
   The case is the result of a three-year investigation by APHIS and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Louisiana. APHIS said it proved that Crown submitted false phytosanitary certificates, which were counterfeited in-house, using a special computer program. The certificates were signed by the company's officers, false representing the signatures as those of authorized USDA officials, and used in overseas commercial transactions.
   Phytosanitary certificates, which bar the USDA seal, are required for many agricultural exports. The document certifies that the plans or plant products listed on the certificate have been inspected according to appropriate procedures and are free of quarantine pests or diseases of concern to the importing country.
   Crown, Lee and Teague were also ordered to pay $120,000 for the cost of the investigation, $58,000 in restitution, and $69,500 in fines.