Alibaba almost sent me to jail. Determined to start again and never let this happen. How do I proceed?

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beebert

New member
I can’t believe this happened to me. It was one of the most stressful situations in my life but hopefully, my experience will help someone.

I sell imported “Korean” beauty products. I imported Korean face masks from this vendor in China on Alibaba multiple times.

18 months passed and I got a letter from C&B saying they audited shipments from this vendor and found out the H.T.S code was wrongly labeled. The cost of this fault was a $97.000 tax assessment with interest included.

At that moment, my jaw dropped to the floor as I didn’t have that much money.

Afterward, they call me and said if I couldn’t pay the price I could face jail time (and these people don’t fuck around). After I hung up I started panicking and my vision started to get blurry. My partner had to call an ambulance.

When I came to my senses my family advised me to call a family friend lawyer. So, I decided to call her to ask about my situation. Luckily, she got involved and managed to settle paying only $25k. It was like the weight of the world lifted from my shoulders.

Weeks later I found out that the vendor is a trading group that works with several other suppliers selling different products.

I’m not sure how to avoid this from happening again.
  • Lawyer says I should always hire legal advisors for H.T.S. code classification but this seems expensive and overkill (I feel odd saying this considering I got slammed.)
  • Foreign vendors use H.S. codes and seem to be unaware of H.T.S. nuances.
  • Freight forwarders say they can do it but I’m afraid of making the same mistake again. Any thoughts?
I’m open to any advice or suggestions you have on dealing with these kinds of H.T.S. situations. I want to start again and not make the same mistakes.
 
@beebert Worth pointing out that this is a common blueprint for a scam. Scammer finds an invoice in the trash, data breach, leaked email, etc, and contacts the person who was sold the item, claiming to be an official government agency, and demanding payment with a penalty of jail time for non-payment. People pay the "tax", usually following the payment instructions on the payment demand email/letter (which looks very official), and the victim often does not know they've been scammed.
 
@hari89 If post is real 100% OP got scammed. Misclassifying goods is not a criminal offense without evidence of intentional fraud. Scammer doesn't need to find anything in the trash either, BOLs are available online. Source: have experience with HS classification ruling disputes with CBP

Also, dumb title
 
@hari89 Interesting how OP is not commenting at all regarding people pointing out that this is not a criminal offense and is almost likely a scam.

Denial?.. fake post for some reason?
 
@hari89 Yeah def is sus but I'm assuming since OP retained a lawyer that it checked out from the CBP. But definitely wise to do a double-take and research
 
@tylerlee
assuming since OP retained a lawyer that it checked out
Click to expand...

lawyers are people too (kinda), just because a "lawyer" looked into something, that doesn't mean much imo. I've met plenty of lawyers who keep passwords written down on sticky notes, who take calls from microsoft to troubleshoot their computer, etc, etc.
 
@beebert Not my area of expertise but this sounds like the blueprint for a scam here.

Federal entities don’t typically call you for anything, let alone threaten jail time. This screams a scam. How did you end up paying the settlement?
 
@bkimmerz That's what I was thinking too. And they never say "pay this large amount of money now or go to jail". Even someone who owes a large amount of back taxes can get a payment plan. The government wants their money a whole lot more than they want someone in jail, which means they will work with anyone who is making good faith efforts to pay what is due. Threats of "pay now or go to jail" are almost always scams.
 
@bkimmerz Yes 100% this.. I'm wondering if the OP actually checked if HTS codes were incorrect or even asked the trading company about the issue. I would put liability on them.. BUT THIS SOUNDS LIKE A SCAM!!
 
@beebert $25k and you don’t even know if the paperwork is correct??? Come on man, I understand being new to this but this is basic due diligence.

Almost everyone on that site is a tradesmen, and many won’t hesitate to sell Chinese products under a made in Korea label complete with knocked off packaging.

If you never want to have this happen again, go straight to the manufacturer or even buy full retail through a legit storefront.

There’s a reason why that vendor was being audited
 
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