CIT Denies Bid by Importer to Scrap Penalty Case as Beyond Statute of Limitations

The Court of International Trade on Nov. 29 declined to rule in favor of an importer facing nearly $3.5 million in penalties and unpaid duties based on allegations it fraudulently misclassified and undervalued entries of wearing apparel, sending the case to trial to decide whether the government missed the statute of limitations for customs penalty cases. Greenlight Organic denies the allegations, and also says the government filed its action more than five years after it purportedly found out about the violations. The government says it’s still within the five-year period of when it first obtained double-invoicing records from Greenlight. “More facts are needed to ascertain when the Government first had knowledge of Greenlight’s fraudulent misclassification and undervaluation activities, including when the Government began to suspect a potential double-invoicing scheme and when the Government had knowledge of an intent to defraud with respect to the misclassification of entries,” CIT said. Because more facts are necessary, CIT denied Greenlight’s motion for summary judgment and said Greenlight and the government could submit more evidence on the statute of limitations issue at trial.

(U.S. v. Greenlight Organic, Inc.; Slip Op. 18-165, CIT # 17-00031, dated 11/29/18, Judge Choe-Groves)

(Attorneys: William Kanellis for plaintiff U.S. government; Peter Herrick for defendant Greenlight Organic, Inc.)