California Customs Broker Sentenced to Over 4 Years in Prison for Defrauding Importers
A California customs broker was sentenced on Dec. 18 to 51 months in prison for defrauding importers, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced. Frank Seung Noah owned and operated customs brokerage Comis International and also was ordered to pay $7,579,141 in restitution.
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From 2007 to 2019, Comis operated as a customs broker for Daiso, a Japan-based variety and value store with stores in the U.S. During this time, Noah gave Daiso "false customs duty forms and invoices in support of fraudulent requests for reimbursement for duty fees," the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The forms differed from those submitted to CBP and "inflated the total amounts, resulting in Daiso overpaying Noah nearly $3.4 million," the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Noah continued defrauding other clients out of over $2 million using a "different fraud scheme" that involved invoicing clients and "simply pocketing the funds instead of paying the customs duties to CBP," the U.S. Attorney's Office said. After CBP told the clients of the unpaid customs duties, the clients contacted Noah, who then sent the clients "altered bank statements falsely reflecting that he had paid the customs duties," the U.S. Attorney's Office said.