The Department of Justice reports that a U.S. importer and its owners have agreed to pay an $8.1 million penalty to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly and improperly evading import duties on multilayered wood flooring from China, including antidumping and countervailing duties and Section 301 tariffs.
Among other things, the company was charged with causing false information to be submitted to U.S. Customs and Border Protection regarding the identity of the manufacturers and country of origin of the imported flooring.
According to the DOJ, the settlement resolves a lawsuit filed under the whistleblower provision of the FCA, which permits private parties to file suit on behalf of the U.S. for false claims and share in a portion of the government’s recovery. As part of this resolution the company that filed the suit will receive approximately $1.2 million of the settlement proceeds.
A senior DOJ official said recently that trade will be a priority for FCA enforcement under the Trump administration.
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