R22 importer faces 10 years jail
8th March 2018
USA: A man accused of illegally importing and selling R22 refrigerant has pleaded guilty to the federal charges and faces up to 10 years in prison.
Mahmoud Alkabbani, 64, the owner of USA Car Parts of Garden Grove, California, was arrested last June, accused of entering into an agreement in 2013 with a Chinese company to purchase R22, which was packaged in cylinders bearing counterfeit “Glacier” trademarks. The contract with the Chinese company listed the product as R134a, but a second, secret agreement called for the Chinese company to actually sell R22 to Alkabbani.
The Orange County Register reveals that Alkabbani offered the R22 refrigerant for sale on eBay and subsequently made an agreement to sell four cylinders to an undercover agent for $330 each — more than 10 times the amount he had paid for the substance.
He was charged last year with conspiracy, one count of entry of goods by means of false statement, five counts of passing false and fraudulent papers through a customhouse, one count of smuggling and one count of violating the Clean Air Act by improperly selling R22 to an undercover agent.
Alkabbani will be sentenced on June 13.
Related stories:
US man charged over illegal R22 import – 25 June 2017
USA: The owner of a California car parts business has been charged with illegally importing refrigerant R22 in cylinders marked as R134a. Read more…
