The real deal? (Illustration)
Photo: Shalom Bar-Tal
3 charged with selling $1 million-worth of fake Viagra pills
State indicts three residents of central Israel for allegedly swindling 2,000 customers, selling fake erectile dysfunction medication online
Three residents of central Israel were indicted Monday for selling fake Viagra and Cialis pills between 2003 and 2005, to the amount of $1 million.
The State Prosecutor's Office filed formal fraud, negligence, conspiracy to commit a crime and illegal transaction charges against Erez Lavev, 39, Motti Mistrialli, 37, and Yitzhak Alon, 39, with the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court.
According to the indictment, the three sold fake erectile dysfunction medication through a website they owned and operated. The fraud, said the state began back in 2003, when the pills first began selling in Israel.
The prosecution alleged that the website claimed the pills were the original medications. The three also advertised their services with other websites.
The clients, believing they were buying the real pills, paid using credit cards. The three deposited the funds in an account set up with a Cyprus bank.
In order to further defraud authorities, claimed the prosecution, the three marked their goods – when sent to customers – as "documents" and included a fictitious return address.
According to the indictment, the three swindled over 2,000 customers between 2003 and 2005, making nearly $1 million in the process.
The three are also facing negligence charges for failing to obtain the proper medical information about their clients, "thus endangering lives."
