Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Western District of Wisconsin

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 27, 2019

MADISON, WIS. -- A federal grand jury in the Western District of Wisconsin, sitting in Madison, returned the following indictments yesterday.  You are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

New York Woman Charged with Conspiracy & Causing the Introduction of Misbranded Drugs into Interstate Commerce

Ursula Wing, 41, New York City, is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and causing the introduction of misbranded drugs into interstate commerce.  The indictment alleges that Wing illegally smuggled into the United States misbranded prescription drugs from India, which were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for distribution in the United States, and that she sold these misbranded prescription drugs to customers in the United States and around the world.

The indictment alleges that the prescription drugs sold by Wing were misbranded in that they were dispensed without a valid prescription from a practitioner licensed by law to administer such drugs, and that the labeling of the drugs lacked adequate directions for use by a lay person. The indictment alleges that Wing did not possess a valid wholesale drug distribution license, a valid pharmacy license, or a license to prescribe prescription drugs.

The indictment further alleges that Wing attempted to disguise the nature of her sale of prescription drugs by 1) creating a fake company called “Fatima’s Bead Basket,” which she listed as the shipper on the envelope going to the customer; 2) by inserting a necklace or other item of jewelry in the shipping envelope to serve as the cover piece of merchandise being mailed to the customer; 3) by packaging the misbranded drugs in a smaller packet that was in a hidden panel and taped to the inside of the shipping envelope; 4) by disguising the nature of the item being purchased by listing on the invoice alternate jewelry product names, each of which had a code to indicate the actual item being ordered; 5) by mailing these misbranded drugs from the United States to customers around the world, and falsely characterizing the exports on U.S. Customs forms as jewelry; and 6) by creating a fake online jewelry business for use as a cover for selling the misbranded drugs, allowing her clients to pay for the misbranded drugs using their credit cards, with the sales showing up on the merchant account as jewelry.

The indictment alleges that from June 2016 through June 2018, Wing conspired to defraud the United States by impeding lawful functions of federal law enforcement and regulatory agencies, and that from January 2018 through February 2018, Wing caused the introduction of unapproved, misbranded prescription drugs mifepristone and misoprostol into interstate commerce by sending the drugs from the state of New York to Wisconsin.

If convicted, Wing faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison on the conspiracy charge, and three years on the felony charge of causing the introduction of misbranded drugs into interstate commerce.  The charges against Wing are the result of an investigation by the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and IRS Criminal Investigation.  The prosecution of this case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Graber.

Component(s):
USAO - Wisconsin, Western