New York City Mayor Eric Adams made the decision on Monday to take a vacation from reality and address the problem of flavored vaping goods despite dealing with a major campaign scandal and the usual backlog of tasks that comes with being a big city leader.
Adams and the city's corporation counsel made the announcement at a podium surrounded by Parents Against Vaping (PAVE) members that New York City had filed a complaint in federal court accusing four distributors of vape products and six related parties of selling flavored vape products in New York without authorization.
The defendants are accused of breaking "nearly every federal, New York State, and New York City law applicable to the marketing, distribution, and sale of flavored ecigarettes, the sales of which are prohibited under laws enacted by all three jurisdictions," according to the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The companies and individual defendants are charged in the case with mail and wire fraud, as well as with breaking the federal Tobacco Control Act, the New York State Public Health Law, and the Administrative Code of New York City. The Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act and the federal Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act are allegedly broken by the four companies, according to the city.
According to an exaggerated news statement full of factual mistakes (the FDA did not "ban flavored vape products" in 2020, for example), the city claims it "seeks to recover monetary damages and civil penalties from the defendants, potentially totaling millions)." The lawsuit states that under RICO legislation, the city will attempt to recover three times the amount of damages found in a trial.
All of the businesses mentioned in the case are based in New York State:
- Magellan Technology Inc. - Buffalo
- Ecto World LLC (which does business as Demand Vape) - Buffalo
- Mahant Krupa 56 LLC (Empire Vape Distributors) - Queens
- Star Vape Corp. - Brooklyn
Six other executives or workers from the corporations were also listed: Nabil Hassen (Star Vape); Nikunj Patel and Devang Koya (Empire); Russell Rogers, Donald Hashagen, and Matthew Glauser (Magellan/Demand).
The complaint was revealed on Monday afternoon, the first workday following the news that surfaced last Friday regarding Mayor Adams' supporters being accused of plotting to illegally fund Adams' mayoral candidacy in 2021. Although Adams has not been charged with any crimes, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg stated that it is likely that the donations were made with the intention of influencing decisions made at City Hall.
