Need a break from your office? Would you like three free meals a day and a free place to stay? Check out the following tips. Only importers are eligible for this exciting opportunity.
1. Send emails to your foreign suppliers requesting two invoices – one with a lower cost for CBP and one with the actual cost submitted directly to you.
2. Submit fraudulent invoices to CBP.
3. Instruct your foreign supplier declare only 50% of the value on items with higher duty rates.
4. Intentionally misclassify goods to receive lower duty rates.
5. Keep records of all of these communications.
If you participate in the activities above, you might be the winner of an all expense paid trip to PRISON. Your first thought might be that another exporter made the news for shipping regulated goods to the wrong party. On the other hand, maybe you are thinking about the sentencing of the professor who was found guilty of export violations. There is a lengthy list of exporters that have been fined for violating one of the export laws, but we seldom hear of importers going to jail. That’s right, this time an importer is going to jail. What could this importer have done to land him in jail? Take a look at that list again. Pay attention, importers, this could be you!
On May 15, 2009, the importer from Mississippi was sentenced to nine months of imprisonment and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $10,403 and a $3,000 fine for his part in a customs fraud. Upon release from jail, the importer will be required to serve three years of supervised release. Did I forget to mention the free ankle bracelet?
Michael Holt, Special Agent-in-Charge of ICE’s Office of Investigation in New Orleans states, “We will continue to pursue those individuals and companies that circumvent duty requirements on imports. Those companies that perpetrate commercial fraud pose a serious problem for our country and will continue to be the focus of our enforcement actions."
Don’t mess with CBP or ICE in Mississippi or Louisiana unless you need/want a free place to stay with three meals a day.
1. Send emails to your foreign suppliers requesting two invoices – one with a lower cost for CBP and one with the actual cost submitted directly to you.
2. Submit fraudulent invoices to CBP.
3. Instruct your foreign supplier declare only 50% of the value on items with higher duty rates.
4. Intentionally misclassify goods to receive lower duty rates.
5. Keep records of all of these communications.
If you participate in the activities above, you might be the winner of an all expense paid trip to PRISON. Your first thought might be that another exporter made the news for shipping regulated goods to the wrong party. On the other hand, maybe you are thinking about the sentencing of the professor who was found guilty of export violations. There is a lengthy list of exporters that have been fined for violating one of the export laws, but we seldom hear of importers going to jail. That’s right, this time an importer is going to jail. What could this importer have done to land him in jail? Take a look at that list again. Pay attention, importers, this could be you!
On May 15, 2009, the importer from Mississippi was sentenced to nine months of imprisonment and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $10,403 and a $3,000 fine for his part in a customs fraud. Upon release from jail, the importer will be required to serve three years of supervised release. Did I forget to mention the free ankle bracelet?
Michael Holt, Special Agent-in-Charge of ICE’s Office of Investigation in New Orleans states, “We will continue to pursue those individuals and companies that circumvent duty requirements on imports. Those companies that perpetrate commercial fraud pose a serious problem for our country and will continue to be the focus of our enforcement actions."
Don’t mess with CBP or ICE in Mississippi or Louisiana unless you need/want a free place to stay with three meals a day.
1 comment:
Great post! Seems like exporters are getting all the attention - but it's just as important to maintain compliance in your imports. Although, prison ankle bracelets are in fashion these days!
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