McEldrew Young Reports: UK Whistleblower Exposes Conspiracy to Smuggle Goods by Military Contractor ECL Solutions
The False Claims Act lawsuit resulted in a guilty plea and nearly $1.1 million forfeiture judgment in the U.S. Government's criminal prosecution.
PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- McEldrew Young, Attorneys-at-Law, is pleased to announce that United Kingdom resident Todd Mihajlovic exposed the concealment of the origin of goods imported into the United States by ECL Solutions Limited, Inc., a British company doing business with the U.S. military as Ban-Air Storage Systems ("ECL"). Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that ECL pleaded guilty to conspiring to smuggle goods into the United States and was ordered to pay a forfeiture money judgment of $1,066,132.10 in the criminal prosecution in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
"Our client alerted the U.S. Government to the company's improper marking of goods passing through customs and provided vital assistance throughout the Government's investigation of the wrongdoing," said McEldrew Young Partner Brandon J. Lauria, Esq. "Without his help, ECL might still be selling goods to the U.S. Government while misrepresenting that they were compliant with our laws designed to promote government purchases of products made in the USA or other designated countries."
Philadelphia law firm McEldrew Young represented Mihajlovic, who filed a civil qui tam lawsuit under the False Claims Act in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in 2012. Mihajlovic's complaint alleged that ECL violated the False Claims Act because of false representations made by the company that products it sold to the United States complied with the Buy American Act (BAA) and the Trade Agreements Act (TAA). According to the Complaint, ECL obscured the fact that its steel racking systems sold to the U.S. Military were actually imported from China.
"Mr. Mihajlovic stepped forward to alert the U.S. Government to wrongdoing without regard to his status as a foreign resident and deserves our gratitude," said McEldrew Young Partner and Whistleblower Attorney Eric L. Young. "In today's age of global business, the evidence of violations of American law may be located overseas and international whistleblowers like Mr. Mihajlovic are needed to expose fraudulent schemes that take place across borders."
McEldrew Young was assisted by United Kingdom Solicitor-Advocate Howard S. Brown, who is associated with Shepherd, Finkelman, Miller & Shah, LLP.
The civil lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware is captioned United States ex rel. Todd Mihajlovic et al. v. ECL Solutions LTD et al., Civil Action No. 12-cv-758-LPS.
For additional information, contact Brandon Lauria at (215) 367-5151 or via the contact form at http://www.mceldrewyoung.com
About McEldrew Young
McEldrew Young is a law firm in Philadelphia, PA representing clients throughout the world in DOJ, SEC, CFTC and IRS whistleblower cases under the False Claims Act, Dodd-Frank Act and IRS Section 7623(b).
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