BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) - The makers of the Quadro Tracker, a detection device that government agencies have paid thousands of dollars for but scientists say is worthless, were indicted on mail fraud charges.
Quadro has sold about 1,000 trackers to school districts, airports and law enforcement agencies nationwide at prices from $395 up to $8,000. It is supposedly able to detect items ranging from illicit drugs to explosives to lost golf balls.
The indictment handed up Wednesday by a federal grand jury names Quadro Corp. of Harleyville, S.C., and four of its officials. They are charged with mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud for devices sold between March 1993 and January of this year. The company is now under court order not to sell the devices.
According to the indictment, the company's promotional material stated that the plastic, non-electronic Quadro Tracker, also known as the Quadro Positive Molecular Locator, used a "chip" to match the molecular emissions of the substance being sought.
Scientific analysis revealed the device is simply a hollow box with a transistor radio antenna attached and the "chip" is a piece of paper between two pieces of plastic, the indictment said.
U.S. Attorney Mike Bradford said the defendants swindled government agencies, jeopardized legitimate investigations and violated the constitutional rights of innocent people.
In April, a federal judge permanently barred the company from making or selling the device. U.S. District Judge Thad Heartfield cited fear that the mechanism could lead to civil rights violations and called it a fraud.
Named in the indictment are Quadro Corp.; Wade L. Quattlebaum, 62, company president; Raymond L. Fisk, 52, vice president; Malcolm S. Roe, 67, secretary; and William J. Long, 56, a distributor, federal officials said.
If convicted, defendants face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine per count.
Timothy Kulp, a Charleston, S.C., attorney who represented the company during the civil proceedings, said late Wednesday he had not yet conferred with all his clients to know their response to the indictment. But he noted that they are appealing the injunction against sales of the device.
