Brookfield companies pay $10M for evading customs duties for Chinese imports

BROOKFIELD, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Two Brookfield-based companies and their owners have paid over $10 million to resolve allegations of evading customs duties on Chinese imports, according to a media release from the U.S. Attorney's Office Eastern District of Wisconsin.

Precision Cable Assemblies, Inc. and Global Engineered Products, Inc., along with their principals, Ryan Schmus and Richard Horky, faced accusations of submitting falsified invoices to U.S. Customs and Border Protection from 2016 through November 2021.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office alleged that PCA and GEP undervalued goods imported from China by altering invoices to reduce prices by around 70%. This allegedly allowed the companies to avoid paying millions in customs duties.

GEP initially paid $4.2 million in lost duties and as part of the settlement, the defendants paid another $6 million to resolve their liability.

The settlement also resolved a lawsuit filed under the False Claims Act by whistleblower Travis Grob, a former PCA employee, who received $1.26 million as part of the resolution.