LOS ANGELES – Ghacham Inc., a Paramount-based clothing wholesale company operating under the ‘Platini’ brand name, has been fined $4 million, ordered to pay $6,390,781 in restitution, and placed on probation for five years for undervaluing imported garments in a scheme to avoid paying millions of dollars in customs duties and for doing business with a woman linked to Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel.
In addition to imposing financial penalties, United States District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong required Ghacham Inc. to create and maintain an anti-money laundering compliance and ethics program and submit to review by a third-party monitor review, who will report to the court on an annual basis.
Ghacham Inc. pleaded guilty in December 2022 to one count of conspiracy to pass false and fraudulent papers through a customhouse and one count of conspiracy to engage in any transaction or dealing in properties of a specially designated narcotics trafficker under a statute known as the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. This is the first criminal conviction in this district under the Kingpin Act.
Mohamed Daoud Ghacham, 39, of Bell, a Ghacham Inc. executive, pleaded guilty in December 2022 to one count of conspiracy to pass false and fraudulent papers through a customhouse. He is expected to be sentenced in the coming months.
According to court documents, Ghacham Inc. imported clothing from China and submitted fraudulent invoices to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that undervalued the shipments, allowing the company to avoid paying the full amounts of tariffs owed on the imports.
At Mohamed Ghacham’s direction, Chinese suppliers would prepare two invoices for the clothing ordered by Ghacham Inc. – a true invoice, which reflected the actual price paid for the goods, and a fraudulent “customs invoice,” which reflected an understated price. Ghacham Inc. submitted the customs invoices to CBP and customs brokers to fraudulently reduce the tariffs owed on the imports, while it maintained the true invoices in its accounting records.
Ghacham Inc. also illegally conducted business with María Tiburcia Cazarez Pérez in violation of the Kingpin Act, which prohibits people and businesses in the United States from doing business with “Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers.” Cazarez Pérez was previously listed as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker under the Kingpin Act for her involvement in the financial network of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García and Victor Emilio Cazares Salazar, two leaders of the Mexico-based Sinaloa Cartel.
The company pleaded guilty to violating U.S. drug trafficking sanctions and for customs fraud, with a total settlement of $10,390,781, including the $4 million fine and $6,390,781 in restitution. Ghacham Inc. was sentenced by United States District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong.
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Key Facts
- State: California
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes|Drug Trafficking
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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