Noel Quintana and Kelsy Hernandez Quintana, a Florida couple, pleaded guilty on Oct. 19 to conspiring to skirt customs duties on their plywood imports, DOJ announced. Noel also pleaded guilty to one count each of smuggling and violating the Lacey Act, while Kelsey also pleaded guilty to two counts of violating the Lacey Act. In all, the Quintanas' scheme allowed them to evade around $42 million in duties, DOJ said.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Oct. 9-15:
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Oct. 2-8:
Frank Seung Noah, a California man working as a customs broker, was arrested on charges that he "defrauded clients out of $2 million" while free on bond from separate charges alleging he defrauded a different client out of $3.4 million, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced. Noah, who was arrested Oct. 5, has been indicted on eight counts, pleading not guilty to each.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Sept. 25 - Oct. 1:
New Jersey jewelry company 21st Millennium and two individuals "who own or control the business," Iqbal Virani and Aqib Virani, admitted to evading customs duties on gold jewelry imports, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey announced. Per the terms of a settlement agreement, the company and the two owners also agreed to pay $1 million to the U.S. after admitting to evading over $400,000 in customs duties.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Sept. 18-24:
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Sept. 11-17:
Liquidation may not be final in cases where CBP is "acting at the behest of another agency," law firm Neville Peterson said in a Sept. 13 blog post commenting on the Court of International Trade's ruling in AM/NS Calvert v. U.S. In that decision, the trade court entries subject to Section 232 steel and aluminum duties may not be final, given that the case contests the applications of product-specific exclusions granted by the Commerce Department and not by CBP (see 2309070037).
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the weeks of Aug. 28 - Sept. 3 and Sept. 4-10: