The defunct e-cigarette retailer Eonsmoke has agreed to pay $50 million to resolve allegations it marketed and sold vaping products to minors by appealing to their social media preferences, ABC News reported.
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, whose office accused the company of "a coordinated advertising campaign intentionally targeted at consumers who were not of the minimum legal purchase age to purchase tobacco products," announced the settlement on Thursday.
According to the state, Eonsmoke, which shut down in April 2020, sold e-cigarette products without conducting any age verification at the time of sale or delivery. The state attorney general also alleged that the company marketed vaping products to underage teens through social media and included popular youth culture references.
"Eonsmoke coordinated a campaign that intentionally targeted young people and sold dangerous and addictive vaping products directly to minors through their website," Healey said in a news release.
"We were the first to take action against this company and its owners," she added. "Today, we are holding them accountable and permanently stopping them from conducting these illegal practices in our state."
The co-owners of Eonsmoke, Gregory Grishayev and Michael Tolmach, have agreed to pay a combined $750,000 as part of the settlement.
The men also agreed to obtain authorization from the Food and Drug Administration and give notice to the state attorney general's office if they seek to sell tobacco in the future.
Healey had previously sent a cease-and-desist letter in September 2018 ordering Eonsmoke to stop selling its products in Massachusetts.
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