Green Fraud

Green Fraud: Chemical-laden fertilizer marketed as organic; federal charges filed.

Chemical-laden fertilizer marketed as organic; federal charges filed.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

California Liquid Fertilizers, formerly of Gonzales, sold organic farmers fertilizer it said was made of fishmeal or feathermeal when it was actually synthetic, according to an indictment by the US Attorney.

Christopher Townsley, 49, who ran the company, was arrested earlier this month, and charged with defrauding a number of California organic farmers, including some in the Salinas Valley, who bought some $6 million worth of his Biolizer XN between 2000 and 2006, and the agency that approves products as organic.

The indictment alleges that Townsley changed the ingredients in his fertilizer from organic to synthetic, and only stopped falsely marketing it as organic when the California Department of Food and Agriculture began to investigate his activities. He faces a maximum 170 years in prison for eight counts of mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud and two counts of making false statements.