The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Sept. 28 - Oct. 4:
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.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Sept. 21-27:
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.
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.
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.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Sept. 14-20:
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Sept. 7-13:
Extruded aluminum component parts imported by Kam Kiu for use in the manufacture of elastomeric aluminum bushings for cars are not finished “subparts” and were correctly found by the Commerce Department to be subject to antidumping and countervailing duties on aluminum extrusions from China, the Court of International Trade ruled on Sept. 3. The extruded aluminum parts, which were the subject of a scope ruling issued by Commerce in 2013 (see 13112525), are combined with the rubber bushing after importation, and aren’t imported in finished form. Though they are designed to be used only on the car for which they were manufactured, the scope of duties on aluminum extrusions includes fabricated aluminum extrusions, said the court. And because they aren’t ready for their intended use as imported, they are not eligible for exemptions from duties for finished merchandise and finished goods kits, said CIT.
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).