Pennsylvania patio furniture company Grosfillex Inc. has agreed to pay $4.9 million to settle allegations it dodged import duties on Chinese aluminum products by filing false customs forms and disguising materials as furniture kits.
The settlement resolves claims that Grosfillex violated the False Claims Act by evading antidumping and countervailing duties, which are designed to protect American manufacturers from unfairly priced foreign goods.
The Justice Department announced that Grosfillex knowingly submitted false customs forms to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, claiming certain extruded aluminum furniture parts from China weren’t subject to import duties.
In some cases, the company allegedly repackaged aluminum extrusions as sham furniture “kits” to avoid detection. In others, Grosfillex failed to correct customs forms even after learning they contained false information about duty obligations.
“Antidumping and countervailing duties protect American companies from unfair subsidies and trade practices that harm domestic industries,” Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said in a news release. “Today’s settlement demonstrates that the Justice Department will continue to actively pursue those who knowingly fail to pay customs duties.”
The case originated from a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Edward Wisner, a former employee of Grosfillex. Under the False Claims Act, private citizens can sue on behalf of the government...
HARRISBURG, PA — The plaintiffs’ bar is working overtime to convince the Pennsylvania General Assembly to pass a state False Claims Act (FCA), arguing that it will raise revenue to help close the ...