Explain term Customs Fraud
Fraud, Customs means any act which a man misleads, or endeavors to trick, the Customs and in this way avoids, or endeavors to sidestep, completely or somewhat, the installment of import or fare obligations and charges or the utilization of forbiddances or limitations set around the statutory or administrative arrangements authorized or regulated by the Customs organizations or acquires, or endeavors to get, any favourable position in opposition to such arrangements, subsequently committing a Customs offense.
People occupied in customs and duty fraud can be liable under a number of different government statutes forcing civil and criminal liability. One of them is the False Claims Act, which authorizes people to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the government and share in the proceeds from the lawsuit.
Customs fraud is extremely difficult for the government to detect and the government often has to depend on informants to tip them off. Organizations may forge invoices in order to support a lower valuation for calculating import taxes. They might also import goods through a third country in order to avoid anti-dumping and countervailing duties. As a result of the measures taken by organizations occupied in avoidance of customs duties, competitors and employees are often in a superior position to find evidence of misconduct than the government.
Informants can fight customs fraud by filing a qui tam claim against their employer or business competitor under the false claims act.