CIT Grants Voluntary Dismissal of Customs Penalty Suit Against Garment Importer, Owner

The Court of International Trade on Sept. 12 dismissed a customs penalty suit against Greenlight Organic and its owner Parambir Singh "Sonny" Aulakh after the parties filed a joint stipulation of dismissal. The parties told the court a settlement was reached in the case, which was filed in 2017 to address an alleged misclassification scheme carried out by the defendants (see 2409090056) (United States v. Greenlight Organic, CIT # 17-00031).

The government alleged that Greenlight committed fraud when it claimed its Vietnam-origin knit garments were misclassified as woven garments, which undervalued the goods. The trade court previously ruled that there was little agreement on the facts, moving the case to trial (see 2302160067). The case was stayed pending a parallel criminal case.