Food Exporter Employee Pleads Guilty to Forging USDA Certificate
A Florida woman pleaded guilty to forging an official certificate to export merchandise containing an animal product, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Florida’s Southern District.
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Raquel Molina, 55, an employee at a food supply company in Miami, Fla., caused the export of a container of food to French Polynesia, Tahiti, which included ice cream that contained milk, according to allegations. Merchandise containing any animal products requires the issuance and accompaniment of a health certificate issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Molina faxed a fraudulent certificate bearing the forged signature of a U.S. Export/Import veterinary medical officer for the cartons of ice cream on May 22, 2009. Later that same day, Molina also “fraudulently filled out and signed another form, again using a false signature, under the title of Dairy Grader” and bearing the USDA APHIS seal.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that Molina waived a pre-sentence investigation report and was sentenced to a $500 fine.