Furniture Importer to Pay $4.9M to Settle Claims It Evaded AD/CVD
Importer Grosfillex agreed to pay $4.9 million to settle claims that it violated the False Claims Act by evading antidumping and countervailing duties on items made with aluminum extrusions from China, DOJ announced. The FCA case was initially filed by Edward Wisner, a former employee of Grosfillex and whistleblower in the case, who will receive a $962,662.74 cut of the settlement.
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Wisner and the U.S. alleged that Grosfillex knowingly submitted false custom forms claiming certain furniture parts made with aluminum extrusions weren't subject to AD/CVD. The government alleged that the importer attempted to hide the extrusions by "packaging the parts as sham furniture 'kits,'" which qualify for an exemption from the duties. For a different subset of the parts, Grosfillex knowingly failed to correct customs forms it previously submitted even after learning the forms falsely said that certain aluminum extrusion parts weren't subject to the duties, the government said.
DOJ said the government's prosecution of this case illustrates its "emphasis on combating fraud, waste, and abuse."