Customs Fraud

April 9, 2019

Univar USA, Inc. has agreed to pay $62.5 million to settle claims that it engaged in unlawful transshipment of saccharin manufactured in China in order to evade antidumping duties.  Univar purchased the saccharin from a supplier in Taiwan, but was alleged to be grossly negligent or negligent in failing to identify that the Taiwan-based company was not the manufacturer, but simply had imported the saccharin from China for transshipment to the U.S.  Univar allegedly evaded $36 million in antidumping duties.  DOJ

Pure Collection - Customs Fraud ($908,100)

Constantine Cannon represented a whistleblower in a False Claims Act case alleging Pure Collection avoided paying U.S. customs duties on its goods shipped from the United Kingdom. In February 2018, the company agreed to pay $908,100 to settle the matter.  Our client received a whistleblower award of 18% of the government's recovery.  Read more -- Financial Times, DOJ, PR Newswire, CC.

September 10, 2018

Michael Brian Anderson, a shrimper and fisherman, has been sentenced to 77 months in prison for defrauding Customs & Border Protection (CBP), after earlier being convicted of false statements, mail fraud, and money laundering. Under the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 (CDSOA), federal subsidies are made available to American shrimpers to offset revenue lost to competitors in the global marketplace. As a domestic shrimper, Anderson was eligible to apply for the subsidies but fraudulently inflated his expenses to more than $24 million for a two year period. He then received $800,00 in subsidies, which he used to purchase boats, real estate, and stocks. In addition to his prison sentence, he is now due to pay restitution to CBP for $818,234. USAO SDGA

June 27, 2018

The government settled fraud charges under the False Claims Act against Temple St. Clair LLC for allegations of systematically avoiding payment of customs duties on goods it imported from various countries including Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Italy. Temple St. Clair allegedly perpetuated the fraud by claiming the good it imported were of a lower value than the true value. Other Temple St. Clair employees also allegedly hand-carried jewelry into the United states without declaring it to Customs and Border Patrol. Temple St. Clair agreed to pay $796,000 to resolve the allegations and institute a number of changes to its practices. USAO SDNY

February 13, 2018

British Knitwear Retailer Pure Collection Ltd. and its CEO Samantha Harrison agreed to pay $908,100 to resolve allegations they violated the False Claims Act by avoiding U.S. customs duties owed on merchandise shipped from the United Kingdom to U.S. customers, including many customers in Maine. According to the government, they did so by breaking up single shipments into multiple shipments of lesser value in order to avoid the applicable duties. The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by Andrew Patrick. He will receive a yet-to-be determined award from the proceeds of the government’s recovery. DOJ (D. ME)

February 6, 2018

Tennessee-based Home Furnishings Resource Group Inc. (which also operates under the name Function Furniture First) agreed to pay $500,000 to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by making false statements on customs declarations to avoid paying antidumping duties on wooden bedroom furniture imported from China. The allegations originated in a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act by Home Furnishings competitor University Loft Company. University Loft will receive a whistleblower award of roughly $75,000 from the proceeds of the government's recovery. DOJ