ACR-News

USA: Operation Catch-22, the US initiative to stop the illegal trade in ozone depleting substances, has achieved further success with the conviction of another Florida business for dealing in smuggled R22 refrigerant.
FSD Group, a Florida corporation with its headquarters in Miami, has been sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay a $100,000 criminal fine after being found guilty of knowingly receiving, buying, selling and facilitating the transportation, concealment, and sale of approximately 65,592kg of R22. As a special condition of probation, FSD Group was ordered to implement and enforce a comprehensive Environmental Compliance Plan. The company was also ordered to forfeit $180,051, which represents proceeds received as a result of the crime and pay owed duties to the United States Customs and Border Protection for incorrectly classified merchandise.

With R22 subject to a phase-out in the USA, in order to legally import HCFC-22, you must hold an unexpended consumption allowance.

According to court records, FSD Group which also operates under the name Saez Distributors, is an international supplier and distributor of merchandise for heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigerator systems, equipment and products including ozone-depleting substances. In business for 35 years, and itself, an original allowance holder under the Clean Air Act, FSD had extensive knowledge regarding the Act's rules and prohibition against purchasing illegally imported R22. During the course of its activities, in addition to its legal imports, FSD Group made additional purchases of HCFC-22 from various importers, knowing they did not hold the required unexpended consumption allowances, totalling approximately 65,592kg, of restricted R22, with a fair market value of approximately $733,096.

This matter and others involving the smuggling and distribution of ozone-depleting substances are being investigated through a multi-agency initiative known as Operation Catch-22. Operation Catch-22 has, to date, including the successful conviction of nearly a dozen individuals and corporations at every level of the refrigerant gas smuggling and distribution chain.