The federal court prosecuted a businessman for the alleged simulation in the import of technological products with little added value, by declaring a value of 1,5 million dollars when their market value was 30 thousand dollars.
The case was initiated by a Complaint by Customs and Judge Mariel Borruto He also prosecuted his agent for this crime, which is being investigated in the context of a high exchange rate gap.
Customs maintains that the special regime of Tierra del Fuego was used to overcharge imports and access dollars in the official market, with the alleged tax loss of USD 1,5 million, which would then have been transferred to a company account in the US state of Delaware, which has low tax rates and does not provide data to the tax exchange regime between Argentina and that country.
The agency led by Guillermo Michel indicated that "in the month of July, Customs detected a 'technological waste' overbilling operation', in which an attempt was made to simulate the import of technological products when in reality they were materials of little value. Through an operation, the agency managed to recover USD 1,5 million."
"The illegal operation was reported by Customs to the courts on July 21. It consisted of importing supposed technological material to the Special Customs Area of Tierra del Fuego, but which in reality were simple empty boxes or 'technological waste', mainly casings, to simulate that a real product was being sent. The importing company was KMC Fueguina SA," the agency said.
As Michel explained, “The merchandise was originally from China, but was invoiced by a foreign company based in the United States, specifically in the state of Delaware., and would have been established on May 15, 2020.”
For this reason, Customs requested information about this company from the country's money laundering control agency (Fincen), through the courts.
“What caught the attention of Customs was that the invoices that covered the destinations had an issue date of March 2020. That is, more than two years before the 'alleged imports' and even two months before the creation of the trading company itself in the United States. For this reason, these packages entered the 'red channel' and were exhaustively examined,” Michel said.
According to Customs, “the technological waste was intended to be imported at USD 1,5 million, when in reality the value of the 'merchandise' did not exceed USD 30 thousand (the residual value of the plastic and aluminum of the simulated equipment).”
"The Federal Court of Río Grande ordered the prosecution without preventive detention for the CEO of the company Mario Norberto Witomski as the author of the crime and his customs agent Cinthia Giandomenico as a necessary participant, with an embargo on the assets for $50 million and $30 million, respectively," he said.
Likewise, "it resolved to continue the ban on both subjects leaving the country that had been duly ordered."
The process
The judge ordered the prosecution of Witomski for the crimes “articles 864 inc. b) and e), 865 inc. f) and e) in accordance with art. 863 of the Argentine Customs Code”, for the crime of smuggling and “as the author (art. 45 of the Criminal Code); arts. 306 and 312 of the Criminal Code”.
In addition, it ordered the seizure of $50 million of his assets "in order to guarantee the financial obligations arising from the possible issuance of a conviction against the accused - costs and possible fine - (arts. 518 of the CPPN).
To this end, the respective incident must be formed and the seizure order drawn up, in which letters will be sent to the real estate and motor vehicle registries in order to report whether the person named has assets to cover the seizure ordered, without prejudice to the possibility of offering said assets voluntarily.
The court also ordered the prosecution without preventive detention of the customs agent Cinthia Giandoménico for “the crimes provided for in arts. 864 inc. b) and e), 865 inc. f) and i) in accordance with art. 863 of the Argentine Customs Code, as a necessary participant” for smuggling. The court seized $30 million from her. It also decided to prohibit both defendants from leaving the country.
Aduana News is the first Argentine customs newspaper to launch its digital version. With 20 years of experience, its publications and initiatives aim to provide the most relevant knowledge on customs issues in order to contribute to safe trade in the region.
