The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Aug 3-9:
Four men were charged for their involvement in allegedly smuggling counterfeit and falsely labeled pet products into the U.S., said ICE on August 3 (here). The defendants were indicted for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud, trafficking in counterfeit labels and smuggling goods into the U.S. "The indictment alleges the defendants smuggled veterinary products into the U.S., that were not manufactured for the U.S. market, for distribution under false labels, including Frontline and Frontline Plus pesticides manufactured by Merial Pharmaceutical Company (Merial)," said ICE. For some of the shipments, the men allegedly claimed that the imported pet products were intended for use by charitable organizations but were instead dispersed to large retail outlets for commercial sale, ICE said. The accused men are Iain Nigel MacKellar of the U.K.; Lam Ngoc Tran of California; Allen Smith of Phoenix; and William Humphreys of California. MacKellar and Tran face additional counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, trafficking in counterfeit labels and smuggling.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of July 27 - Aug 2:
President Barack Obama tapped a law firm partner, a chief executive officer and an associate justice to fill vacancies at the U.S. Court of International Trade, the White House said on July 30. Obama sent to the Senate nominations for Elizabeth Drake, partner at Stewart and Stewart who specializes in antidumping and countervailing duty law, as well as Jennifer Choe Groves, CEO at Titanium Law Group and Choe Groves Consulting. Choe Groves focuses on trade and intellectual property in her consulting and legal services. Obama also sent forward the nomination for Gary Stephen Katzmann, associate justice on the Massachusetts Appeals Court since 2004. The three nominations aim to fill vacancies left by Richard Eaton, Gregory Wright Carman and Jane Restani.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of July 20-26:
The Court of International Trade on July 24 denied a request from the government to impose penalties on an importer for negligently misclassifying entries of plywood (here). The government had asked the court to forego a trial and order the importer to pay $324,540 for declaring its plywood duty-free. However, the importer’s use of a customs broker raises questions as to who actually bore responsibility for the violation, and those questions must be decided at trial, said CIT.
Kam Wing Chan, the owner of a Los Angles furniture company, pleaded guilty to smuggling endangered abalone and Totoaba fish, said the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California in a July 21 news release (here). Chan was alleged to have used the company, "which was ostensibly an importer of Asian furniture, to purchase endangered fish in Mexico, import them into the United States, and then export them to Asia," it said. The seafood was illegally exported to companies owned by one of Chan’s relatives in China, where they are considered delicacies "and often adorn the buffets of festival meals and are served at formal dinners," it said. Under the plea agreements, Chan and the company "will forfeit the smuggled wildlife and make restitution to the government of Mexico in the total amount of $55,000 for the loss of the natural resource, and pay fines totaling $14,500."
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of July 13-19:
A Quebec cattle feed brokerage and manufacturing company pleaded guilty to two felony counts related to illegal imports, said a press release from the Office of the United States Attorney (USAO) for the District of Vermont (here). Yves Bolduc, president of Meunerie Sawyerville, entered the guilty pleas for the company on July 8, said the USAO. The charges include "one felony count of making a false statement to Customs and Border Protection officials, and one felony count of fraudulently causing the cattle feed drug monensin to be introduced into interstate commerce at a level of concentration significantly higher than that allowed by the Food and Drug Administration," Vermont's USAO said.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of July 6-12:.