Prosecutors: San Diego Customs Fraud Topped $10M
(The Associated Press)
A customs broker orchestrated a scheme that brought at least $100 million worth of Chinese textiles, Indian cigarettes and other goods to the United States without paying more than $10 million in tariffs and other fees, according to a federal complaint unsealed Wednesday.
Gerardo Chavez, 42, is president of the San Diego Customs Brokers Association, a trade group that represents 45 brokers doing business on California’s border with Mexico. The complaint says his companies “facilitated” about $500 million in trade between the United States and other countries over the last five years.
Chavez and two other defendants were taken into custody Wednesday, according to U.S. Immigration and Enforcement. Five other defendants were at-large. Read more here.
Date: July 26, 2012
