Alli counterfeiter gets seven years in jail
27th June 2011
Chinese national Shengyang (Tom) Zhou has been sentenced to 12 years in jail in USA for his part in the trafficking Illegal copies of Alli a non-prescription weight loss drug from GlaxoSmithKline. He was also ordered to pay more than $500,000 in restitution to the victims of the crime, including an emergency room doctor from Texas who suffered a mild stroke after taking the fake version of the weight loss drug. Instead of the usual fat-binding compound orlistat, the fake Alli contained sibutramine which is an appetite suppressant and can cause side effects such as high-blood pressure, seizures, tachycardia, palpitations, heart attack or stroke in vulnerable people. Zhou's business associate Qing Ming Hu, a naturalised US citizen, was also prosecuted, and received a sentence of 3 years' probation. He was involved in receiving shipments of the fake Alli and selling on the drugs to the US public. For further information on genuine Alli please follow the highlighted link.