LI Man Sold Mislabeled Meat For Higher Price: Prosecutors

A Long Island man was charged as part of a scheme to fraudulently sell mislabeled beef as higher-quality meat.

Prosecutors say that Howard Mora, 67, of Westbury, and Alan Buxbaum, 65, of Monroe, New Jersey, were charged with conspiring to commit wire fraud as part of the scheme to use counterfeit USDA stamps to misbrand "choice" beef as higher-quality "prime" beef, which they would then sell at higher prices. The two were arrested this morning.

“Customers and consumers are entitled to get what they pay for, especially when the product is food on their tables,” said United States Attorney Richard Donoghue. “This office and our law enforcement partners will remain vigilant in enforcing laws that ensure the grade and quality of food products.”

According to prosecutors, from September 2011 to October 2014, Mora and Buxbaum were the co-owners of A. Stein Meat Prodcuts, Inc., which was a wholesale meat processing and distribution business in Brooklyn. Prosecutors say that the two purposefully purchased beef that was labeled "choice" by USDA graders, and then had their employees carve off the "choice" markings and re-stamp them "prime" with counterfeit stamps.

Prosecutors say the meat was then sold around the New York metropolitan area.

“The integrity of USDA’s food processing systems and the security of the nation’s food supply is of the utmost importance to the Office of Inspector General, and we will continue to dedicate resources to the investigation of matters where it is called into question," said USDA-OIG Special Agent-in-Charge Bethanne M. Dinkins.