Ohio-based Basco Manufacturing Co. has agreed to pay $1.1 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by making false customs declarations to avoid paying duties on products imported from a Chinese manufacturer.
The company allegedly engaged in a scheme to avoid duties by shipping aluminum extrusions manufactured by Tai Shan in the People’s Republic of China through Malaysia – a practice called transshipping.
According to the government, Basco and other defendants, including California-based C.R. Laurence Co., Florida-based Southeastern Aluminum Products Inc., Texas-based Waterfall Group LLC, New York-based Northeastern Aluminum Corp., Northeastern’s owner, William Ma, and Robert Wingfield, the U.S. representative of Chinese exporter Tai Shan Golden Gain Aluminum Products Ltd., made false declarations to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection to avoid paying antidumping and countervailing duties on the imported aluminum extrusions.
“Companies that import products made abroad must comply with the law, including paying the import duties that protect domestic manufacturers and producers from unfair competition,” said Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division Stuart F. Delery.
The government’s settlement and complaint involve allegations that Basco and the other defendants misrepresented that the aluminum extrusions were imported from Malaysia, when in fact they were manufactured in China.
“Circumvention of our country’s import laws causes substantive harm to U.S. businesses and our economy,” said Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida A. Lee Bentley III. “These laws must be strictly enforced so that our companies can remain competitive in markets throughout the world.”
Basco and the other defendants allegedly engaged in this scheme to avoid paying the import duties that protect domestic manufacturers and producers from unfair competition.
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Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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