« Cure for deafness now within reach | Main | Biophysical Method May Help To Recover Hearing »
August 29, 2008
Man charged with smuggling stolen hearing aid to Colombia
A Plainfield man has been charged with stealing hearing aids from a Franklin, Somerset, company and smuggling them out of the country to be sold on the black market in Colombia.
Gerardo Casteblanco, 41, of Plainfield, an employee of Oticon in Franklin, was charged Wednesday and taken to Somerset County Jail in lieu of $75,000 bail set by state Superior Court Judge Julie Marino, sitting in Somerville.
More than $600,000 worth of hearing aids, parts, tools, software and other equipment belonging to Oticon were found during a search of Casteblanco's Birch Avenue residence, said Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne Forrest. Casteblanco was arrested yesterday at his home.
Forrest said Casteblanco, an employee of the Denmark-based company, had been taking the items from Oticon without authorization for more than a year.
The thefts from the company were brought to the attention of the prosecutor's office on Aug. 5 by Thomas Falvey, the vice president of operations for Oticon, Forrest said.
Oticon manufactures the hearing aid parts in Denmark, then ships the equipment to the Franklin facility for assembly and distribution.
An investigation by the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office's Special Investigation Unit, with assistance from an Oticon representative in Colombia, found that hearing aids manufacturered by Oticon were being smuggled out of the United States and sold on the black market in Colombia, Forrest said.
The investigation found that hearing aids found in Colombia had the same serial numbers as hearing aids stolen from Oticon, according to the prosecutor.
Video surveillance on Aug. 19 at Oticon showed Casteblanco removing boxes of hearing aids from a storage area at the facility, Forrest said.
Another surveillance video from Tuesday, Aug. 26, showed Casteblanco removing items from the storage area and putting them into his lunch box at his work station, Forrest said.
Casteblanco was seeking to move to Colombia, where his wife lives, Forrest said.
http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080827/CRIME/808270373
Posted by 4HL on August 29, 2008 5:16 AM
Send this article to a friend