Company Official Faces Civil Suit for Duty Evasion
Source
American Shipper
Post Date
11/13/2024
The Department of Justice announced Oct. 31 that it has filed a civil lawsuit alleging that the former president of a U.S. importer made false statements to customs officials to avoid paying antidumping duties. The complaint seeks the recovery of over $7 million in import duties and over $15 million in civil penalties. ?he Trek Leather case in 2014 set the stage for the government to pursue penalties against individuals whose own actions violate 19 USC 1592,?said Jason Kenner, who lead? ST&R? litigation practice. ?uch cases have yet to become the norm, but I foresee this becoming more regular in the future. Among other things, going after individuals helps the government combat the practice of companies going out of business to escape penalty liability.?
According to a DOJ press release, the U.S. conts that the former official caused the company to misrepresent the identity of the manufacturers of imported items. In particular, the U.S. alleges that the individual falsely represented that the goods were manufactured by Chinese entities subject to duty rates of approximately seven percent or less and failed to disclose that the goods were actually manufactured by entities subject to AD duty rates of 216 percent.
