A New York importer and a defense contractor will together pay $8 million to settle allegations that the companies sold defective countermeasure flares made from illegally imported magnesium to the U.S. Army, said the Justice Department on March 28 (here). The importer, ESM Group, will pay $2 million of that total to resolve a whistleblower lawsuit brought by a competitor that alleged it misrepresented the content of its magnesium powder to avoid antidumping duties.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Feb. 22-26 in case they were missed.
Three Pennsylvania importers and their corporate officers will pay $3 million to settle another importer’s whistleblower lawsuit that alleged the companies evaded antidumping duties, said the Justice Department on Feb. 22 (here). Graphite Electrode Sales, purportedly the largest importer of the product in the U.S., alleged in a False Claims Act suit that Ameri-Source International, Ameri-Source Specialty Products, Ameri-Source Holdings, corporate officers Ajay Goel and Thomas Diener, and a cross-owned importer, SMC Machining, engaged in the duty evasion scheme. Per the terms of a settlement agreement, the importers pleaded guilty Feb. 22, some 10 days after the government joined the case.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Dec. 21 - Dec. 24 in case they were missed.
A furniture importer agreed to pay $15 million to settle a False Claims Act lawsuit that alleged it submitted false entry documentation in an effort to avoid antidumping duties on wooden bedroom furniture from China, said the Justice Department in a Dec. 21 press release (here). University Furniture and its Freedom Furniture Group allegedly classified its imported furniture as office furniture between 2009 and 2012, despite selling the furniture in the student housing market for use in dormitory bedrooms, said DOJ.
The Justice Department announced on Sept. 4 that it settled two more False Claims Act whistleblower suits related to evasion of antidumping and countervailing duties on aluminum extrusions from China, with Robert Wingfield of Texas and Bill Ma of New Jersey agreeing to pay $385,000 and $50,000, respectively (here). According to DOJ, Wingfield, the U.S. sales representative for Chinese exporter Tai Shan Golden Gain Aluminum Products Ltd., “conspired with domestic importers to submit false information to the government to evade duties” by misrepresenting the Chinese extrusions as goods of Malaysia. Ma formed a company to act as importer of record “in an attempt to shield the real importers from liability,” said DOJ. The two settlements are the latest in a series that stem from the allegations of James Valenti, the CEO of sourcing consultant World Trade Group (see 13111924 and 1502170019).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 27 - May 1 in case they were missed.
Importers cannot be sued for False Claims Act violations related to failure to pay marking duties, said the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania as it denied a bid to reignite a whistleblower lawsuit from a company founded specifically to conduct "research and analysis on customs fraud" (here). The False Claims Act only applies to a false claim made to avoid an already existing obligation, while the obligation to pay marking duties is nonexistent until it is created by the failure to mark, said the court.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Feb. 17-20 in case they were missed.
Three importers have agreed to pay a total of over $3 million to settle charges that they transshipped Chinese aluminum extrusions through Malaysia in order to avoid paying antidumping and countervailing duties, said the Justice Department on Feb. 12. California-based C.R. Laurence, Florida-based Southeastern Aluminum, and Texas-based Waterfall Group allegedly declared the country of origin of the aluminum extrusions to be Malaysia, even though the goods were actually manufactured in China and only transshipped through Malaysia, said DOJ. The settlement comes as the result of a False Claims Act whistleblower lawsuit in Middle Florida U.S. District Court brought by James Valenti, owner and CEO of sourcing consultant World Trade Group, and joined by the U.S. government. Valenti is set to receive $555,100 for his role in the case.