DENVER (Legal Newsline) — The U.S. Department of Justice announced Dec. 1 that Zen Magnets LLC, a Colorado company, has been ordered by a federal court to pay $5.5 million in penalties after allegations of selling powerful small magnets that had already been recalled by another company.
Most of the judgment will be suspended due to the company’s inability to pay.
“Selling potentially dangerous products that another company had recalled put consumers at risk,” said principal deputy assistant attorney general Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.
“The civil penalty imposed by the district court indicates that violations like this will not be taken lightly. The Department of Justice will continue to work with the CPSC to protect consumers by keeping recalled products out of the stream of commerce.”
Zen Magnets allegedly purchased hundreds of thousands of magnets at a substantial discount from a company that had recalled them from consumers. The magnets at issue can cause health problems if ingested and also can be attracted to each other and cause internal damage, the EEOC says.
“Protecting consumers, especially children, from a product that can cause harm and even death is what the Colorado U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice as a whole are all about,” said acting U.S. attorney Bob Troyer for the District of Colorado. “The civil penalty leveled by Judge Christine Arguello provides a more than appropriate deterrence to companies to ensure their products are safe.”