US Trade Fraud Task Force Surpasses $1bn in Recoveries and Penalties

July 20, 2026
By Mintesinot Nigussie

The US Department of Justice said its Trade Fraud Task Force (TFTF) has surpassed one billion US dollars in recoveries, penalties, forfeitures and publicly charged losses less than one year after its launch, marking an expanded federal crackdown on customs fraud and trade violations. Established in August 2025 with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the task force targets companies and individuals accused of evading customs duties, misrepresenting imported goods and exploiting weaknesses in global supply chains.

The DOJ said the TFTF investigates violations including false declarations to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), illegal transshipment, mislabeling and inaccurate country-of-origin claims. Its focus areas include evasion of Section 301 tariffs, antidumping duties and countervailing duties, as well as imports linked to forced labour and consumer safety risks. Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division said trade fraud would no longer be treated as a routine business cost.

Recent cases contributing to the milestone include prosecutions involving gold jewellery imports in Chicago. Raj Kohli and Veena Kohli, operators of Surya International Inc., were charged with allegedly misrepresenting the origin of jewellery imported from India and the United Arab Emirates as Singaporean products, avoiding more than 38 million US dollars in customs duties on goods valued at over 693 million US dollars. In a separate case, Narain Gulabani, owner of Barkha Wholesale Inc., was charged with allegedly misdeclaring the origin of gold jewellery imports, resulting in the alleged avoidance of more than 13.6 million US dollars in customs duties on shipments valued at more than 240 million US dollars.

The task force has also secured major enforcement actions across other industries, including a 549.5 million US dollar settlement involving Perfectus Aluminum over alleged duty evasion on aluminium extrusions, a 54 million US dollar settlement with Ceratizit USA over tungsten carbide imports, and an eight million US dollar penalty against Royal Sovereign over alleged failures involving unsafe imported products. CBP said it has separately assessed more than 2.1 billion US dollars in commercial trade penalties during the current fiscal year and debarred 35 entities from conducting business with the federal government.

The DOJ and DHS also released a Trade Fraud Resource Guide to help businesses understand customs compliance requirements and potential civil and criminal consequences for violations. The Justice Department has created the Global Trade & Commerce Enforcement Section within its National Fraud Enforcement Division to investigate trade-related crimes affecting US industries, government revenues, consumers and national security.

Source: FSX Business News