May 2, 2016: Jean-Claude Mas, founder and former owner of French company PIP, or Poly Implant Prothese, arrives for the verdict in his appeal trial in Aix en Provence, southern France. (AP)
AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France – A French appeals court has upheld a four-year prison sentence against a maker of fraudulent breast implants that were given to tens of thousands of women worldwide from 2001 to 2010.
The appeals court in the southern town of Aix-en-Provence found Jean-Claude Mas, 76, the founder and former owner of the French company PIP, guilty Monday of aggravated fraud and fined him 75,000 euros ($86,000).
The judges, upholding a 2013 lower court judgment, barred Mas from any job in the health sector and from running any company. He has not been jailed during the appeals, which could continue.
His company's implants contained industrial-grade silicone instead of medical silicone and were prone to leakage. They were not available in the United States, but at least 125,000 women worldwide received them.
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