TransUnion denies it violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by failing to delete inaccurate information from plaintiff Israel Mertz’s credit file after receiving notice of the inaccuracies in his Verizon account (see 2212300022), said its answer Monday (docket 7:22-cv-10938) in U.S. District Court for Southern New York in White Plains.
CBP reminded customs brokers that their powers of attorney must be updated by Feb. 17 to comply with the agency’s Part 111 customs broker modernization final rule, in a CSMS message Feb. 13. Under the final rule, “a broker must execute a POA directly with an importer of record or drawback claimant (client) and not through a freight forwarder or other third party to transact customs business on behalf of the client,” CBP said.
Customs brokers and forwarders commended an effort by CBP to modernize the export process for used self-propelled vehicles exports (USPVs), but said a range of questions “remain unanswered” about how the new pilot will work in practice. They also said CBP can make several improvements to the pilot, including by allowing filers to submit electronic export documents before a vehicle is delivered to the port of export.
Washington state-based auto broker BidBuy Auctions settled a customs fraud case with DOJ, agreeing to pay $430,000, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington announced. The qui tam case saw a former BidBuy employee allege the auto broker lied to CBP about the value of imported vehicles to pay less in duties. As a result of the settlement, the former employee-turned-whistleblower will get 23%, or $98,900, of the $430,000 payment.
The U.S. settled a civil suit against global trading and investment firm Samsung C&T America -- a subsidiary of Korean conglomerate Samsung C&T Corp. -- over charges SCTA violated the False Claims Act by misclassifying footwear imports to avoid paying customs duties, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced. The importer will pay $1 million to the U.S. and make admissions over its conduct, specifically that it misclassified its imports on entry documents filed with CBP and underpaid custom duties, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Washington state-based auto broker BidBuy Auctions settled a customs fraud case with DOJ, agreeing to pay $430,000, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington announced. The qui tam case saw a former BidBuy employee allege the auto broker lied to CBP about the value of imported vehicles to pay less in duties. As a result of the settlement, the former employee-turned-whistleblower will get 23%, or $98,900, of the $430,000 payment.
The U.S. settled a civil suit against global trading and investment firm Samsung C&T America -- a subsidiary of Korean conglomerate Samsung C&T Corp. -- over charges SCTA violated the False Claims Act by misclassifying footwear imports to avoid paying customs duties, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced. The importer will pay $1 million to the U.S. and make admissions over its conduct, specifically that it misclassified its imports on entry documents filed with CBP and underpaid custom duties, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
CBP is no longer requiring emails from importers to activate approved Section 232 exclusions, and will now directly process approved exclusions based on weekly lists provided by the Commerce Department, CBP said in a CSMS message Feb. 7. A list of approved exclusions will be posted every Friday, and the product exclusion ID must be on that list before the customs broker or filer submits the exclusion ID on entry documentation, CBP said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control updated its Russian price cap guidance last week to include information on the recently imposed cap on Russian petroleum products. The measure -- which took effect 12:01 a.m. EST on Feb. 5 -- sets a $45 per barrel cap for petroleum products that trade at a discount to crude, such as naphtha and waste oils, and a $100 per barrel cap on products that trade at a premium to crude, such as motor fuel.
Kochava violates consumer protection laws by acquiring consumers' precise geolocation data and selling it “in a format that allows entities to track the consumers' movements to and from sensitive locations,” alleged King County, Washington, plaintiff Cindy Murphy in a class action Wednesday (docket 2:23-cv-00058) in U.S. District Court for Idaho. Her complaint bears strong similarities to the FTC’s Aug. 29 lawsuit in which the agency seeks a permanent injunction enjoining Kochava from acquiring the data (see 2212050061).