A Passaic County man is accused of creating counterfeit federal documents to persuade two people to invest in a vaping business, federal prosecutors said.
Mohammad Abuhadba, 42, of Wayne, was indicted on two counts of wire fraud and three counts of using a counterfeit seal of a federal agency.
Authorities accused Abuhadba of using counterfeit federal seals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to convince a pair of investors to buy into a vaping company, officials said.
The documents purported to authorize the vaping company to market and sell tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and other vaping products, officials said.
In reality, Abuhadba never applied for FDA authorization to sell those products and repeatedly lied to the investors about the status of the authorization after the two people already invested their money, officials said.
Abuhadba made his first appearance in federal court on Wednesday and was released pending further court appearances.
An attorney for Abuhadba did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
N.J. man used phony FDA documents to con people into investing in a vaping business, feds say
