DOJ Plans to Model Trade Fraud Task Force After Health Care Fraud Unit, Law Firm Says
DOJ's Trade Fraud Task Force plans to model its tariff enforcement efforts after the DOJ Health Care Fraud Unit's "data-drive playbook to develop leads," DOJ Criminal Division Senior Counsel Cody Herche said at the American Conference Institute's annual anti-corruption conference, according to attorneys at Morgan Lewis. The attorneys said Herche's comment indicates "potential criminal violations of US tariff laws," including the False Claims Act and the statute against smuggling goods into the U.S.
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DOJ launched the Trade Fraud Task Force in August to indicate its priority in enforcing action against trade fraud (see 2509020052).
During the conference, Herche said the task force is focused on false country of origin declarations, value estimates and goods' classification, pointing to three recent enforcement actions as evidence of this increased priority. Herche cited a guilty plea from infant formula maker Able Groupe for smuggling (see 2511240016), charges against an Indonesian jewelry company and its employees for evading over $86 million in customs duties (see 2511180018), and an indictment of two companies and their executives for evading tariffs by claiming Chinese forklifts were made in the U.S. (see 2510010055).
The Morgan Lewis attorneys said these cases show the task force is using "traditional white-collar enforcement tactics in prosecuting criminal tariff evasion."