FedEx Corp said it will continue to defend any attacks on its integrity after saying it will plead not guilty to money-laundering charges filed in a federal court in San Francisco on Friday.

The latest indictment, filed in court Friday, said FedEx accepted payment from several pharmacies when it knew the revenue was the product of invalid prescriptions.

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Last month, US authorities filed a drug-trafficking case against the company for allegedly shipping prescription painkillers and other controlled substances.

FedEx pleaded not guilty on the drug-trafficking charges as well.

FedEx senior vice president for marketing Patrick Fitzgerald said the company is innocent of all the charges filed and will continue to defend against the attack on its integrity.

According to government sources, FedEx and its co-conspirators allegedly gained at least US$ 820 million. That means FedEx and its co-conspirators could face a fine of twice the amount, or about US$ 1.6 billion, if found guilty.

Fitzgerald said the company has been asking the government to provide it a list of online pharmacies that are engaging in illegal activity so FedEx can stop transacting with them but law enforcement instead sent FedEx indictments.

According to the charge sheet filed by authorities, FedEx allegedly ship drugs ordered from Internet pharmacies to customers who never have prescription or have not been examined by doctors.

The U.S. government claimed that FedEx continues to transact business with illegal online pharmacies even if it knows that these practices violated federal and state drug laws.

Last year, United Parcel Services Inc (UPS) paid US$ 40 million, the amount it earned from servicing illegal online pharmacies, under an agreement with the US Justice Department.

Walgreen Co and CVS Caremark Corp also paid a total of US$ 150 million in civil fines for selling drugs that were not for legitimate medical use.

TagsFedEx, Money-Laundering, Illegal Online Pharmacies