Both Sides Experiencing Delays in Fraud Penalty Case

Both the government and defendant Crown Cork & Seal USA said they're experiencing delays in discovery in a fraud case against the importer, they said in a Sept. 8 joint status report. The case concerns metal can lid imports entered between 2004 and 2009 and valued at around $51 million. The government did not produce the requested 52 discovery requests by the Aug. 21 due date and Crown said it has experienced issues with third-party discovery relating to unaffiliated brokers (U.S. v. Crown Cork & Seal USA, CIT # 21-00361).

The breadth of the discovery requests has led to challenges, DOJ said, as many of the requested documents don't underlie the government's penalty argument and won't be relied upon at trial. The delays were compounded by a "a significant, unexpected and adverse medical episode" of a family member of the person directing the retrieval of archived records, DOJ said. Crown, meanwhile, said it has faced issues with brokers that were involved in the import process because of conflict issues and "the age and staleness" of records.

Crown believes a modification to the current scheduling order, which concludes fact discovery on Nov. 10 will be required, to which the government has agreed in principle.

Crown tried to have the case dismissed in February, but Judge M. Miller Baker said that it is "undisputed" that the company misclassified the lids and underpaid around $1.3 million in duties (see 2302280053). The trade court then referred the case to mediation in March (see 2303160044) but that didn't result in a settlement (see 2305300066).