King Kong ain’t got nothing on the DOJ

My old friends and colleagues in the Northern District of Georgia have been doing some good work. This time, they’ve settled a customs fraud qui tam case.

The scheme: The scheme is straightforward and lucrative: King Kong, a tool company, manufactured tools in China and sent them to Germany where some, but not all, received additional processing. The tools were then shipped to the United States and declared to be German products. The only reason to do so was to avoid a 25% tax on Chinese imports. By falsely describing the tools as “German,” King Kong improperly avoided paying these tariffs.

The whistleblower: Not an employee this time, a competitor turned in King Kong. Probably Godzilla, but the complaint was not unsealed, so the secret remains safe. This unnamed competitor (had to be Godzilla, right?) gets $280,000 plus attorneys fees.

For more information about qui tam claims or if you would like to customs fraud, you can contact the whistleblower attorneys at Markowitz Herbold. Vivek Kothari is a former federal prosecutor who represents whistleblowers in qui tam cases. For a free consultation, you can contact Vivek at 503-274-7425 or vivek@markowitzherbold.com.