Three Americans Indicted for Smuggling Over $3.2 Million in Pool Chemicals From China

The pandemic boom in the pool and spa industry coincided with a chemical factory fire in August 2020 to put severe pressure on chemical supplies throughout North America. At the time, pool and spa pros had to go to great lengths just to keep up inventories. Some even changed their sanitization methodologies in order to conserve dwindling supplies of pool chemicals.

Desperate for the materials needed to stay in the pool service business, some in the industry sought supplies in China from dubious sources. Stories of all types of fraud — shipments paid for and never delivered, shipments mislabeled or badly damaged in transit, shipments containing different (inert) chemicals than the ones purchased, etc. — were common in 2021 and 2022.

Now at least some of the fraud is being exposed and a few of the perpetrators are being charged. Three Americans have been indicted for their part in a multi-million-dollar smuggling scheme that saw the illegal importation and distribution of trichlor from China, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of California. 

According to the indictment, “a domestic shortage of TCCA [trichloroisocyanuric acid, or trichlor] in the early 2020s as well as an increase in tariffs and duties applying to the importation of the chemical from China resulted in a dramatic increase in the price of TCCA in the United States.” 

The price spike is not news to pool pros here, but the arrests are good news for those who were defrauded in their purchases and felt helpless to rectify the situation. According to the indictment, after the initial smuggling of trichlor into the US, all three defendants allegedly participated in the fraudulent marketing and selling of the product. 

The three defendants have been named: Jermoine “Jay” C. Brantley, 52 of Murrieta, Calif., Haneef Z. Saleem, 44, of New York, N.Y. and Brian Morris, 49, of Peoria, Ariz. All three appeared in San Francisco before the U.S. Magistrate Judge Alex G. Tse on September 12, 2024 to face the charges. 

The charges listed in this indictment include:

• Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud
• Wire Fraud
• Conspiracy to Smuggle Goods Into the United States
• Smuggling Goods into the United States
• Entry of Goods Falsely Classified
• Entry of Goods by Means of False Statements
• Distribution or Sale of Unregistered Pesticide
• Distribution or Sale of Misbranded pesticide
• Violation of the Hazardous Substances Act

If each of the defendants are convicted of every charge brought against them, Morris could face up to 47 years in prison, while Brantley and Saleem face a possible 76 years total.

This case is being prosecuted by the Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara Valliere, with assistance from Sara Slattery and Kathy Tat. 

To read the full statement and indictment, click here.