Accused Internet pharmacy operator arrested
The operator of an Internet pharmacy, who was ordered to refrain from similar online activity after being accused of fraud, has been arrested for apparently setting up another Internet drug firm in the Dominican Republic, authorities said Tuesday.
Christopher William Smith, 25, was arrested Thursday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport as he exited an airplane from the Dominican Republic.
Smith was not charged with a crime earlier, but he could be held in criminal contempt if a federal judge rules he violated the previous court order, the U.S. attorney's office said. Smith was to appear Wednesday before federal Judge Michael J. Davis, who in May seized more than $4 million of Smith's assets and shut down the Burnsville-based Xpress Pharmacy Direct.
Smith's attorney could not be reached for comment by the Star Tribune.
An FBI affidavit said Smith started a new Internet prescription drug business. The FBI also said he traveled under a false passport and used a cash card to withdraw money from a bank account that had been seized by the court.
After the business was shut down, Smith obtained a list of more than 100,000 of his Xpress Pharmacy Direct customers and began soliciting business from them through the new business, the FBI said.
Smith, a high school dropout, was an internationally known e-mail spammer when he started his Internet pharmacy, which includes a dozen Internet sites and a call center with about 85 employees, authorities said.
