A settlement has been reached to resolve False Claims Act allegations against Ameri-Source International Inc, Ameri-Source Specialty Products Inc, Ameri-Source Holdings Inc, SMC Machining LLC, and Ajay Goel and Thomas Diener.
The whistleblowers' share of the settlement will be $480,000.
The allegations arose from a lawsuit claiming the defendants had engaged in a scheme to avoid customs duties on imports of small-diameter graphite electrodes from the People’s Republic of China.
Per the Department of Justice, this settlement resolves claims that Ameri-Source International Inc evaded antidumping duties on 15 shipments of small-diameter graphite electrodes from the People’s Republic of China from December 2009 to March 2012. The United States contended that Ameri-Source International misclassified the size of the electrodes to avoid paying the duties. There are no antidumping duties on larger diameter graphite electrodes. The United States also alleged that Goel, Diener and the other companies caused and conspired in the misrepresentation to evade duties. Ameri-Source International also waived indictment and pleaded guilty today to two counts of smuggling goods into the United States. In U.S. District Court in the Western District of Pennsylvania, Ameri-Source International admitted that on April 27, 2011 and June 9, 2011, the company falsely declared imported cargo from the People’s Republic of China as being graphite rods greater than 16 inches in diameter.
