Georgia Couple Sentenced For Illegally Selling Male Enhancement Products And Naturalization Fraud
ROME, Ga. (CW69 News at 10) – U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones sentenced Irfanali Momin, 48, and Shiba I. Momin a/k/a Saguftabanu Momin, 42, a/k/a Saguftabanu Momin, husband and wife, of Dahlonega to one year, six months in prison for naturalization fraud and conspiring to illegally import and distribute misbranded drugs from China and trafficking in counterfeit goods, according to a statement from the Northern District of Georgia's U.S. Attorney's office.
Their prison sentences will be followed by three years of supervised release and they were ordered to pay a special assessment of $200. Both were convicted on September 23, 2020 after pleading guilty
Judge Jones also issued orders revoking their U.S. citizenship.
The Momins have also been criminally denaturalized as result of their convictions for naturalization fraud.
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court:
- Between August 2014 and November 2018, the Momins ordered and sold male enhancement products from China marketed under various names. These products contained sildenafil, the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Viagra, and/or tadalafil, the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Cialis. Both Viagra and Cialis can be obtained in the U.S. only with a prescription from a doctor.
- The Momins had in fact received more than a dozen notices from the FDA advising them to not sell these products. The FDA has also warned consumers for more than half-a-decade to not purchase or use such "all natural" sexual products because they could have serious side effects.
- In order to evade import restrictions, the Momins' China-based suppliers mislabeled the boxes containing the illegal pills to make it appear that the boxes contained items that can be legally imported into the U.S., such as beauty products, health products, and health supplies.
- The Momins admitted to selling between $550,000 and $1.5 million in illegal drug products over the course of the conspiracy.
- They also sold various counterfeit goods from their warehouse in Dalton, Georgia, including counterfeit designer watches, headphones, e-cigarette devices, and tobacco rolling papers.
Earlier, in October 2013, the Momins both applied to become naturalized U.S. citizens. On his application form, Irfanali Momin falsely stated that he had never been married before and did not disclose that he had in fact been married to two women at the same time. During an interview with USCIS in June 2014, Irfanali Momin made the same false declarations. Based upon his false statements, became a naturalized U.S. citizen on August 16, 2014.
On her application form, Shiba I. Momin a/k/a Saguftabanu Momin, falsely stated that she did not go by any other names when in fact she knew that her actual name was Shiba I. Momin, but she was only passing as Saguftabanu Momin. The investigation had revealed that Shiba I. Momin had originally obtained a Georgia's driver's license in her real name only to later obtain a fraudulent license in the name Saguftabanu Momin—the name she used to apply for and fraudulently receive U.S. citizenship on August 1, 2014. If USCIS had been aware of these facts, it would have denied her citizenship.
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