Feb. 27, 2014: DuPont Settles Counterfeit Refrigerants Case in Philippines
Illegal Ozone-Depleting Substances Found in Counterfeit Investigation
WILMINGTON, Del. — DuPont Refrigerants has announced a successful settlement with T.A. Fresco, a company in the Philippines, in a case involving the packaging and sale of counterfeit illegal DuPont™ Suva® 134a refrigerant.
In 2012, DuPont initiated an investigation into T.A. Fresco, which was supplying refrigerants to a service provider in the shipping industry. An undercover purchase was conducted by DuPont which revealed that T.A. Fresco was selling R-134a refrigerant cylinders with incorrect spelling and markings, which indicates counterfeit product. Upon further testing of the contents of the cylinders, the product was determined to be made up of more than 90 percent R-12 refrigerant. With the assistance of U.S. Homeland Security officials, local police raided the T.A. Fresco warehouse and seized 511 counterfeit cylinders, falsely labeled as “DuPont™ Suva® 134a”.