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TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that his office has reached a settlement with a Broward County business over the sale of expired vitamins. Global Source Management & Consulting, Inc., also known as Vitamin Hut, and owner Gary R. Dubin will pay $150,000 in fines and penalties to resolve a lawsuit filed by the Attorney General’s Office in February 2008.

The Attorney General’s Economic Crimes Division began investigating the company’s practices in November 2007 after receiving information from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Investigators determined the company allegedly sold expired vitamins to consumers after deleting or changing the printed expiration dates on vitamin products. Further, the company would allegedly re-package the products in an attempt to conceal its actions.

After receiving the tip from the federal authorities, an Economic Crimes investigator subsequently made purchases of certain products from all three Vitamin Hut locations and confirmed with manufacturers that the true expiration dates of these items had been removed and/or altered. The Attorney General’s Office seized vitamin supplements from three Broward County stores after learning the expiration labels on the supplements may have been doctored.

As part of the settlement, Dubin agreed to close or sell his business and to never again participate directly or indirectly in the retail vitamin business. In addition to paying $150,000, Dubin and his company must reimburse the state’s fees and costs.