Press Release
FORT LAUDERDALE CAVIAR DEALER CHARGED IN INTERNATIONAL SMUGGLING OPERATION
April 25, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Eddie McKissick, Miami Resident Agent in Charge, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and Darwin Huggins, Atlanta Resident Agent in Charge, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, announced that Max Moghaddam, a/k/a Bahmadi Moghaddam Mohammad, a/k/a Mohammad Moghaddam 58, of Plantation, Florida, and Bemka Corporation, d/b/a Bemka Corporation House of Caviar and Fine Foods, of Fort Lauderdale, were charged with conspiracy, false labeling of export shipments, and the illegal export of internationally protected fish roe (eggs) during the period from July 2005 through April 2007. Moghaddam and Bemka were arraigned in federal court in Miami today on the charges, which relate to the export of significant quantities of the roe of the American paddlefish, in violation of the laws, treaties, and regulations of the United States, contrary to the Lacey Act, Title 16, United States Code, Sections 3372 and 3373, the conspiracy statute, Title 18, United States Code, Section 371, and the Endangered Species Act, Title 16, United States Code, Section 1538(c)(1).
The case, which has been assigned to United States District Court Judge Federico A. Moreno, does not yet have a trial date. If convicted, defendant Moghaddam faces up to five years imprisonment on the conspiracy and false labeling charges, and up to one year in prison on the Endangered Species Act charge, as well as significant criminal fines and Bemka faces a criminal fine of up to $200,000 on the Endangered Species Act charge, and $500,000 on each of the remaining charges.
According to the criminal Indictment and a sworn affidavit in support of a search warrant issued in this matter, the American paddlefish, polyodon spathula, is native to the Mississippi River drainage system and is harvested for both its meat and roe (eggs). Once common throughout the Midwest, over fishing and habitat changes have caused major population declines. The paddlefish is a close relative of the sturgeons from which most commonly known caviars come and paddlefish roe has qualities similar to sturgeon caviars. With diminishing world sturgeon populations and increased international protection for declining stocks, American paddlefish has become a substitute for sturgeon caviar and as such has become quite valuable.
American paddlefish is a species listed for protection since 1992 in Appendix II of an international treaty known as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ( “CITES”). A purpose of CITES is to monitor and restrict trade in certain species of fish, wildlife, and plants to protect them from commercial exploitation that might diminish the ability of the species to survive in the wild. More than 170 countries cooperate in the enforcement of the provisions of CITES, including the United States and Belgium, by implementing domestic laws to effectuate its underlying goals.
CITES classifies protected species in its Appendices. Appendix II includes all species “which although not necessarily now threatened with extinction may become so unless trade in specimens of such species is subject to strict regulation in order to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival.” Accordingly, the export of the American paddlefish, and its parts and derivatives including the roe, is subject to the requirements of CITES, the ESA, and the regulations thereto. To engage in trade in paddlefish, all imports or exports must be accompanied by a CITES export certificate from the country of origin, or a re-export permit from a country of re-export. CITES export permits for American paddlefish are issued, upon approval of an application by the exporter, by the United States Fish & Wildlife Service. The American paddlefish is also protected by the various states in their range.
According to the Indictment, none of the participants in the shipments at issue bound for Brussels, Belgium, applied for or secured the necessary permits, and the American paddlefish was falsely described on shipping invoices and customs documents as bowfin roe. “Bowfin” (Amia calva), is another species indigenous to U.S. rivers, which produces a roe sometimes used as a caviar substitute, but which is not listed by CITES in any Appendix, and is exempt from the declaration requirements of the Fish and Wildlife Service.
Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Thomas Watts-FitzGerald.
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.
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