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Dec 6, 2008 9:29 am US/Eastern
Something Fishy About That South Florida Caviar?
Beluga Caviar From The Caspian Sea Costs More Than $5,000 Per Kilogram In America One Reason Why Fishy Prosecutions Are nothing New For The Southern District Of Florida
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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Fishy prosecutions are nothing new for the Southern District of Florida, and it claims illegal caviar trade is just as dangerous as the illicit drug market.
CBS
As the world's best caviar from wild sturgeon commands hundreds of dollars for 1 ounce - about a tablespoon full - federal prosecutors convicted a Plantation, Fla., man and his company earlier this week with violating laws that protect the American-bred "paddlefish roe" whose valuable fish eggs were reportedly bought illegally and sold overseas to capture the lucrative market.
Max Moghaddam, 58, was accused earlier this year of mislabeling paddlefish roe and shipping it to Belgium, where it was repackaged as American caviar for shipment to other countries.
He was convicted by a federal jury in Miami on Thursday on charges of conspiracy, false labeling of export shipments, and illegally exporting protected fish eggs, along with the Fort Lauderdale-based Bemka Corporation House of Caviar and Fine Foods.
There's big bucks in the belly of these fish as the indictment attests. About a ton of paddlefish caviar sent to Belgium in four shipments was worth $193,025. About half was repackaged and sold for $230,113.
The jury found that from July 2005 to April 2007 Moghaddam exported significant quantities of American paddlefish eggs, violating international environmental law.
Sentencing is set for Feb. 12 and Moghaddam faces a possible prison sentence and fines of more than five years and $500,000.
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