PALM BEACH MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO WIRE FRAUD IN SEPTIC TANK SCHEME
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Arthur A. Elkins, Jr., Inspector General, United States Environmental Protection Agency - Office of Inspector General (EPA-OIG), announced the December 1, 2011 plea by Mohamed Plaisir, a/k/a Mark Powers, 31, of Palm Beach, to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Sentencing has been scheduled for February 10, 2012, before U.S. District Judge Kenneth L. Ryskamp.
According to Court documents and statements made during the plea hearing, Plaisir, in concert with other employees of FBK Products, LLC., knowingly participated in a scheme to fraudulently market and sell an unnecessary septic treatment product to residents of various states throughout the United States.
The defendant’s scheme operated from about March 12, 2009 through October 2010. To execute the scheme, Plaisir and co-defendants Mary Moore, Joseph Nouerand, and Christopher Lincoln conducted sales pitches to potential customers throughout the U.S. under the names FBK and Septic Remedy. The sales pitches fraudulently mislead the customers to believing that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), were affiliated with the septic treatment that the defendants were marketing by phone. Further, Plaisir and others fraudulently misled customers into believing that Septic Remedy would eliminate the need to have their septic tank pumped; that government regulations had changed the components of toilet paper; and that the Septic Remedy was compatible with the supposed new toilet papers.
Mr. Ferrer commended the efforts of EPA-OIG for their thorough investigative efforts which resulted in the charges in this case. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman O. Hemming, III.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
