In another victory for U.S. manufacturers, a Mexican importer of Chinese steel wire hangers who was convicted of evading U.S. antidumping duties was sentenced to serve almost six years in custody followed by three years of supervised release, and to pay approximately $8 million in forfeiture and restitution to the U.S. government. The 55-count indictment included conspiracy, entry of goods into the United States by means of false statements, wire fraud, and money laundering. Mr. Arturo Huizar-Velazquez, the owner of Proveedoras de Limpiaduria de Tijuana and Huizar Cleaner de Mexico, imported Chinese-manufactured steel wire hangers into the United States and falsely claimed that they were manufactured in Mexico in violation of both the 2008 Commerce Department antidumping duty order on steel wire hangers from China and the North American Free Trade Agreement. An employee for Mr. Huizer-Velazquez also was convicted and sentenced to time served of one year in jail and ordered to pay over $3.5 million in restitution.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, both agencies in the Department of Homeland Security, worked on the investigation
