Dozens of Companies Facing Charges for Distributing Counterfeit Trojan Condoms

Trojan is finding itself at the center of a controversy in Wisconsin.  It seems that a grocery wholesaler in the state is facing a lawsuit for selling and distributing millions of counterfeit Trojan condoms.

What is wrong with selling and distributing counterfeit Trojan condoms, you might ask?  Well, not only is this false advertising and not only does this hurt the profit margin of Trojan, it also puts you at risk.  Trojan condoms works hard at developing high-quality condoms that are safe, comfortable, and effective.  With counterfeit Trojan condoms, however, you cannot be certain the same quality standards are achieved.  In fact, you can pretty much bet that those condoms are not nearly as good as the real thing.  After all, the person creating the counterfeit Trojan condoms is obviously more concerned about making a quick buck than watching out for public safety.

The company that is under fire for selling and distributing the Trojan condoms, Kaloti Enterprises, is also under investigation for dealing with stolen infant formula as well. The company denies its involvement with the infant formula controversy, but admits that it did purchase a shipment of Trojan condoms as well as Duracell batteries.  The only defense the company has managed to come up with, however, is the ignorance plea.  That’s right, they say they simply didn’t know that the condoms and batteries were counterfeit.

“Kolati Enterprises Inc. bought a load of condoms from a company in New York that it has dealt with for many different products over the last few years and had never had any problem,” said the attorney for the company, Ahmed Quereshi.  The attorney went on to say that the company didn’t find out that the Trojan condoms were counterfeit until after they had already sold them to stores.

In defense of the company, counterfeit Trojan condoms isn’t really at the top of the list of items to watch out for.  At the same time, the lawyer stated that condoms and batteries are not items that the company normally deals with but, because they were offered such a great price on the items, they decided to go ahead and buy them.  Hmmmm…..how does the saying go?  If it is too good to be true, it probably isn’t.  Maybe Kolati Enterprises should have kept that little saying in mind.

As you might expect, representatives from Trojan are not exactly feeling sympathetic toward the company.  They do admit, however, that it is unusual for a company to admit to such wrongdoing.  Geoffrey Potter, who is the lawyer for the parent company of Trojan, stated “I do a lot of these cases, and it’s very rare for somebody to say, ‘You caught me.’”

According to court documents, Alex Trading Inc. purchased 6,400 cases of Trojan condoms at a price of $56,000.  They also purchased 400 cases of batteries for $18,400.  They then sold the items to Kaloti, though the amount they were sold for has not been disclosed.  Kaloti then turned around and sold the products once more, but that company never actually paid for the products because they realized they were counterfeit. 

Apparently, Kolati is not the only company facing a lawsuit for dealing in counterfeit condoms.  In fact, approximately 40 different people and companies are facing charges and the Trojan company is seeking $10 million in damages from each defendant.  In all, millions of counterfeit condoms were distributed, with Kolati contributing about 250,000 of them.