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DOJ Announces Charges Against Two California Importers for Unsafe Toys
October 8, 2015 |Penalties and Courts

The Justice Department filed charges against two toy importers for violations of consumer product safety standards, it said on Oct. 6 (here). DOJ says that the Consumer Product Safety Commission sent Brightstar Group of Los Angeles and its owner, Sherry Chen, nine letters between 2013 and 2015 detailing product safety violations in shipments of children’s products into Los Angeles. Meanwhile, CPSC sampling caught 39 shipments imported by Unik Toyz Trading Inc. of Los Angeles, and its owner, Julie Tran, and manager, Kiet Tran, also face charges. Most of the violative toys imported by each company were stopped at the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach and not sold to consumers, said DOJ. Both companies immediately agreed to settlements that prohibit them from importing and selling toys and children’s products “until the CPSC determines that the firm’s practices have come into compliance with the law and with various remedial measures set out in the decrees,” said DOJ. The proposed settlements must be approved in court, it said.

Florida Counterfeiter Sentenced to Prison
October 7, 2015 |Penalties and Courts

Michael Sanders will serve 18 months in prison and pay Apple and Otter Products nearly $100,000 due to a counterfeit trafficking scheme, said ICE in a news release on Sanders' sentencing (here). After ICE's Homeland Security Investigations in Jacksonville, Florida discovered a shipment from China containing counterfeit iPhone back plates and Otter Box cases," and found out "Sanders was selling counterfeit cell phone parts and accessories using e-commerce," said ICE. Sanders bought remanufactured phones, paired them with counterfeit batteries and chargers and sold them in counterfeit trademarked box to sell in e-commerce, the agency said. "Sanders admitted that he took in over $100,000 in sales" and "the investigation revealed that the counterfeit products acquired by Sanders would have had a value of over 1 million dollars had they been authentic," said ICE.

UPDATED: New York Court Finds Former Avalon Employee Guilty of Fraud Against Employer
October 2, 2015 |Penalties and Courts

A former employee of Avalon Risk Management was recently found guilty of fraud in federal court in Manhattan for issuing bonds in the name of Avalon Risk Management, but then pocketing the premiums. In a ruling issued Sept. 16 (here), the Southern New York U.S. District Court found James Rossano issued Federal Maritime Commission bonds to forwarders and transportation intermediaries he found using Avalon’s client lists, indicating Avalon as the agent but charging exorbitant amounts and keeping the proceeds for himself.

CIT Finds Door Parts Neither Veneered Panels Nor Laminated Wood
September 29, 2015 |Penalties and Courts

Door stiles and rails imported by Composite Technology International are too thick on the outside to enter duty free as veneered panels, and too thin on the inside to be duty free laminated wood, said the Court of International Trade in a Sept. 28 decision (here). Instead, the frame and panel door parts should be classified as “other articles of wood” dutiable at 3.3%, ruled the court.

Topics:Court of International Trade
CIT Orders Over $2 Million Penalties for Texas Woman Lured Into Broker's Undervaluation Scheme
September 29, 2015 |Penalties and Courts

The Court of International Trade on Sept. 28 ordered a Texas woman to pay over $2 million for her part in a get-rich-quick scheme proposed by a customs broker (here). Dionicio Bustamante, a licensed broker, approached Jeanette Pacheco at a “nightclub” and offered her $200 for her signature on a power of attorney, according to the CIT ruling. He proceeded to import undervalued dried peppers on her behalf. But when CBP caught onto the scheme, Pacheco found herself on the hook as the importer for penalties under 19 USC 1592 for undervaluation and failure to redeliver.

Topics:Court of International Trade
Peanut Executive Sentenced to Longest-Ever Prison Term for Food Safety Violations
September 23, 2015 |Penalties and Courts

The owner of a company implicated in a major salmonella outbreak was sentenced to 28 years in prison for his role in a scheme to falsify test results and ship food without testing, said the Justice Department (here). Stewart Parnell, former owner and president of the now-defunct Peanut Corporation of America, was convicted in Middle Georgia U.S. District Court for fabricating testing certificates that said the company’s peanuts were free of pathogens, when in fact there had been no testing of the food or tests had revealed the presence of pathogens. The salmonella outbreak that ensued in 2009 led to over 22,000 cases in 46 states, including nine deaths. Parnell’s prison sentence is the longest to date in a food safety case, said DOJ. His brother, Michael, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in the scheme.