A home furniture company was hit with an import duty fraud whistleblower lawsuit, which was then picked up by the federal government. The company has agreed to settle the claims of import duty fraud for $10.5 million.

Essentially, the import duty fraud lawsuit claimed that Bassett Mirror Co., a Virginia-based furniture company, made false customs declarations. It did this, the lawsuit claims, to avoid paying anti-dumping duties on the bedroom furniture it imported from China.

The U.S. Department of Justice, which picked up the import duty fraud lawsuit from a whistleblower lawsuit filed back in 2013, said in a statement that Bassett spent years avoiding certain tariffs, constituting import duty fraud.

In order to dodge paying these tariffs, the company would falsely declare that the items they were importing were considered non-bedroom furniture. According to the lawsuit, the company lied on its import forms between January 2009 and February 2014, avoiding paying the substantial anti-dumping duties on Chinese wooden bedroom furniture during that time period.

“The office will not tolerate anyone who seeks to stack the deck against American workers and products,” said U.S. Attorney Bobby L. Christine from the Southern District of Georgia in a statement regarding the import duty fraud lawsuit. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners, as well as our colleagues in the Civil Division, to pursue those who believe that their own profit justifies evasion of federal anti-dumping duties.”

Bassett maintains that it has paid all the required duties and tariffs on its imports, including bedroom furniture. The company’s president, Lewis Canter, noted that many items now function in multiple areas of the home, so many of its furniture items can be used both in the bedroom and in other capacities. “This transformative environment created a significant disagreement between our company and the Justice Department on what qualified as ‘bedroom furniture’ under the anti-dumping order, ” Canter said in a statement, according to Law360.

The “significant disagreement” has been brought to a close with both parties reaching a $10.5 million settlement agreement.

Filing a Whistleblower Lawsuit

The import duty fraud lawsuit was initially filed under the whistleblower provision. Whistleblower lawsuits are generally filed by employees or former employees who have found evidence of fraud or other illegal activities against the government.

While a person is considering becoming a whistleblower on behalf of the government, they may worry about being fired or otherwise retaliated against at work. However, there are laws in place to protect whistleblowers. On top of these protections, whistleblowers are typically given a substantial reward for calling attention to the suit, often between 15 and 30 percent of whatever money is recovered, which can amount to millions of dollars in the biggest cases.

If you believe you have witnessed some kind of fraud against the government by your current or former employer, such as import duty fraud, you may be able to file a whistleblower lawsuit (also known as a qui tam lawsuit) against the company on behalf of the government.