The Whistleblower & Anti-Fraud Blog
Extruded aluminum imports fraudulently misclassified as warehouse pallets to evade anti-dumping and countervailing (AC/CVD) duties
A group of California companies affiliated with C
hinese Billionaire Liu Zhongtian—known as “Uncle Liu” or “Big Boss”—have been ordered to pay the U.S. government $1.83 billion in restitution after having been convicted of a scheme to evade customs duties on imports of Chinese aluminum. The judgment is believed to be one of the largest in U.S. history involving customs fraud.
On April 11, 2022, United States District Judge R. Gary Klausner sentenced the affiliated warehousing and aluminum companies to five years probation and ordered them to pay the $1.83 billion. The sentence followed a trial in August 2022 where the defendants were convicted of conducting a scheme with Zhongtian and others to evade U.S. anti-dumping and countervailing duties (AC/CVD) on extruded aluminum products from China. The jury found the defendants guilty of conspiracy, wire fraud, and passing false and fraudulent papers through a customshouse.
mports of steel components from China. The qui tam whistleblower who exposed the fraud—the company’s former logistics coordinator—will receive a whistleblower award (or “relator’s share”) of $3.7 million under the False Claims Act.
s supplier CWD Holdings, LLC – which does business as Centric Parts – has agreed to 
import duty evasion. The former employee who blew the whistle on the scheme by filing a qui tam lawsuit received 22% of the recovery as a reward.
ewards.