St. Louis, Mo. – Attorney General Chris Koster today announced a settlement with M & N Missouri L.L.C., doing business as Unique Mart, of St. Louis County, and the company’s owner, Mohammed Qasem, for offering harmful and mislabeled automotive products for sale. The agreement requires Qasem and his business to cease carrying products the Missouri Department of Agriculture has found to be harmful and to pay the state $2,000 in civil penalties, $4,000 in suspended penalties, and future penalties of $5,000 per violation if he again violates the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act or another Stop Sale Notice.
This settlement constitutes the last in a series of cases involving businesses in the St. Louis area offering harmful and mislabeled automotive products for sale. In November 2014:
- Bajes Dugom, Amal Nassar, and Dugom Enterprises, doing business as Kenny’s Discount Cigarettes and Quality Market, entered a consent judgment agreeing not to sell mislabeled or defective products again and to pay civil penalties of $2,000 and suspended penalties of $7,000 to the State of Missouri.
- Munji Abdeljabbar, doing business as Pulse Petroleum Co., Inc. (Phillips 66), entered a consent judgment agreeing not to sell mislabeled or defective products again and to pay civil penalties of $500 and suspended penalties of $7,000 to the State of Missouri
- Munji Abdeljabbar, doing business as Shakra 2, Inc. (Shell), entered an assurance of voluntary compliance agreeing not to sell mislabeled or defective products again and to pay $500 and suspended penalties of $7,000 to the State of Missouri
Koster said a joint investigation by his Consumer Protection Division and the Missouri Department of Agriculture’s Weights and Measures Division uncovered the widespread distribution and sale of mislabeled and harmful automotive products throughout the St. Louis area. During this investigation, it was discovered that Unique Mart was carrying some of these harmful products. Investigators found a “North Atlantic Antifreeze” which claimed to be one gallon of a 50/50 mix of ethylene glycol and water. However, testing revealed the product contained no ethylene glycol and was less than one gallon. Another product, “Formula 100 Economy Transmission Fluid,” had the wrong viscosity, meaning it would not flow through the transmission correctly. Based on the testing of this product and others, the Division of Weights and Measures issued Mr. Qasem a Stop Sale Notice in March 2014; however, Mr. Qasem continued to sell the harmful products for almost 3 weeks until investigators returned and forced him to remove the products. If used, the products are capable of causing significant damage to vehicles and engines.
The Attorney General filed suit against Mr. Qasem and Unique Mart in June 2014 alleging unlawful merchandising practices and requesting an injunction and civil penalties.
A copy of a Consumer Protection Alert that lists the brands of harmful automotive products is available here. Anyone who purchased any of these products is encouraged to file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office Consumer Fraud Hotline atago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222.
