Florida Dealer Charged over Importation of Ancient Chinese Artefacts

A dealer from Winter Park, Florida was reportedly charged by federal authorities (with obstruction of justice) in connection with the importation of ancient Chinese artefacts that were interdicted at the Port of Miami. According to court documents, in June 2011, the dealer (Lorin and Son, LLC, - “Asiantiques”) imported about five hundred artefacts from Hong Kong.

Among the shipping were 27, subject to a prohibition against importation because they pre-dated 907 A.D. and constitute items of significant Chinese cultural heritage.

In other words they were of a type detailed in the Jan.14, 2009 "Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the United States and the People’s Republic of China, archaeological materials representing China’s cultural heritage from the Paleolithic Period (c. 75,000 B.C.) through the end of the Tang Period (A.D. 907)". Such items cannot at present be imported into the United States without the proper paperwork. It appears from the court papers that the shippers thought they could get round it, if such items were already in the United States as of the MOU date, the items could be re-imported without prior authorization.

According to court documents, invoices accompanying the shipment indicated that the entire contents had originated in Florida and were being returned to the United States after having been shipped to Hong Kong for a trade show. After the items were interdicted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspectors, Francois B. Lorin and others created false documents to justify provenance for certain items in the shipment that were prohibited from entering the United States without such provenance. Thereafter, Lorin & Son, LLC and Francois B. Lorin, through counsel, filed a petition for remission with CBP and provided supporting materials, in which they argued for release of the interdicted items by using false invoices and providing other false information. The invoices that were submitted were backdated, falsely claimed that items had been acquired from third-parties before the MOU date, and otherwise falsely claimed that these documents established “proof” that the items could be lawfully imported.

Following an investigation by special agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami the dealer was charged, as above. It is a good job that the same measures were not applied to the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild which in the Baltimore Illegal Coin Import stunt, mixed coins subject to MOU provisions in with coins not subject to MOU import restrictions and imported the lot with paperwork appropriate to the former, not latter. They too would be risking charges on the grounds of knowingly obstructing justice by mixing the shipment and treating all the objects in it as of equal status.

 ICE Press Release - 'Florida art gallery and owner charged with obstruction of justice in connection with importation of ancient Chinese artifacts', 4th November 2013

 Charging document.pdf