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Lumber Liquidators; Raided by Federal Authorities.




On September 26, 2013 federal officials raided Lumber Liquidators home office in Toano, Va. The raid was carried out by special agents; including, Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations unit, The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the United States Justice Department. The details of the search warrant were sealed; however, there is evidence that Lumber Liquidators has been importing illegal lumber from Russia. During the initial investigations, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) Traveled to the Russian sawmills. They disguised themselves as fictitious buyers and secretly recorded conversations with executives from the Suifenhe Xingjia Economic and Trade Co. When questioned, the Chinese Executives "blew the whistle" on Lumber Liquidators; claiming that Lumber Liquidators was fully aware that they were purchasing illegal lumber. Illegal harvesting of lumber is a multi-billion dollar industry, but Ill save that for another article. If the accusations are true, this is in direct violation of the The Lacey Act. This is a federal statue that prohibits the importation of illegal fish, plants, and wildlife into the U.S. Criminal violations carry penalties up to 500k per offense. According to the EIA, Lumber Liquidators purchased several million square feet of illegal lumber; specifically, from the Siberian tigers natural habitat, where only approximately 450 big cats remain.


The question now is, "how will this affect the retail giant"? I expect they will incur large fines, which may force them to close some of their 300+ locations. What ever the penalty, it needs to be a swift and just judgement. Companies like Lumber Liquidators are bad for the industry and should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. For more information on the Lumber Liquidators raid, watch the following video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKqwMH2N0vc


Best Regards,
The Floor Man







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