The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Illinois, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection have announced sweeping criminal charges filed in federal court against two companies and five individuals that facilitated the importation and sale of illegal honey imports evading $180 million in antidumping duties.
Charges were filed against Groeb Farms, Inc. of Onsted, Michigan and Honey Holding I, Ltd. of Baytown, Texas, both large industrial honey suppliers.
These cases involve the importation of honey, however the Southern Shrimp Alliance has monitored these indictments and has indicated similar schemes may have been employed by related groups that import shrimp, basa, tra, swai and crawfish tails in order to evade payment of antidumping duties and/or circumvent food safety laws.
The Southern Shrimp Alliance has cited incidents where transshipping companies may have imported farmed seafood products – including shrimp – and claimed them to be exempt from antidumping duties.
“The government’s announcement of sweeping indictments following extensive investigations of organized criminal networks is a tremendous step forward in addressing import fraud,” said John Williams, executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “The amount of money stolen from U.S. taxpayers through these schemes is stunning. And the harmful impact of trade fraud on vulnerable domestic industries is massive.”
On behalf of the domestic shrimp industry, Williams thanked the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the United States Attorney for taking aggressive action to counter a problem that has become all too prevalent in the marketplace.
Read Southern Shrimp Alliance News Alert.
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