WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Premier Manufacturing,
 Inc., a South Carolina cigarette importer, has agreed to pay an additional
 $3.1 million to settle civil claims that between 1995 and 2002, it
 deliberately understated the weights of cigarettes that it imported, the
 Justice Department announced today. The company had previously agreed to
 pay $7.16 million in restitution as part of a criminal guilty plea that it
 entered in 2005. The settlement announced today covers civil claims the
 government had under the False Claims Act and two customs statutes.
 
 
 
     Since the amount of customs duties owed on imported cigarettes is based
 in part on their weight, Premier avoided millions of dollars in customs
 duties. Under the False Claims Act, the United States is entitled to
 recover treble damages and penalties from those who knowingly submit false
 claims for payment to the government or who knowingly fail to pay money
 owed to the government.
 
 
 
     "Importers who fraudulently understate their customs duties cheat
 American taxpayers," said Michael F. Hertz, Deputy Assistant Attorney
 General for the Civil Division. "We will continue to be vigilant to keep
 importers from attempting to circumvent the requirements of federal law."
 
 
 
     The case was handled by the Justice Department's Civil Division, the
 United States Attorneys' Office in South Carolina, and the United States
 Customs and Border Protection.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice