A California-based importer of China made countertop and building materials was charged Dec. 18 for evading more than $109 million in import taxes over five years, according to federal prosecutors.

Uni-Tile & Marble owner Xin Mian Pan allegedly falsified invoices, mislabeled products, and transshipped goods through a Malaysian shell company to avoid paying U.S. customs duties, according to the indictment. Pan’s relatives in China own the manufacturer he imported from, according to prosecutors.

Charging documents say the scheme started in 2018 after the Trump administration imposed anti-dumping tariffs targeting products made in China. Pan was importing kitchen and bath construction and remodeling products, including quartz countertops, wooden cabinets, and ceramic tiles, according to the indictment.

Such “customs duties intended to protect U.S. manufacturers and American jobs,” U.S. Attorney Craig H. Missakian said in a press release. Pan’s scheme “harmed honest businesses that play by the rules,” he said. “Companies that think they can beat the system should be on notice that they will be investigated and held accountable.”

Pan’s customs broker, Nolan Xie, and Pan’s business partner in China, Wang Jinhua, were also indicted. Wang’s company, Shenzhen Top & Profit International Forwarding, sent goods made in China to Malaysia, and then re-routed those items from Malaysia to the Port of Oakland, according to prosecutors. According to the indictment, falsified entry documents filed by Pan’s customs duty officer misrepresented his imports with Customs and Border Protection. Pan allegedly imported around 520 shipments in five years.

Prosecutors provided examples of how the scheme worked. They said that in October 2020, Wang’s company Top & Profit charged $40,230 for “transloading” six freight containers of ceramic tiles from Qingdao, China, to California’s Port of Oakland through Malaysia. Pan allegedly paid a China-based manufacturer $22,518 for the ceramic tiles, as well as $2,853.99 in duties owed for tiles imported from Malaysia. According to charging documents, if entry documents had accurately noted their origin of Qingdao, China, Pan would have to pay the United States more than $227,000 in tariffs.

Pan and co-conspirators are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, smuggling, and entry of goods by means of false statements. Pan and his companies are also charged with money laundering.

The Commerce Department imposed anti-dumping tariffs to protect U.S. manufacturers by leveling the playing field. In early 2019, the Department of Commerce imposed a tariff rate of 341.47 percent on quartz countertops from China, 251.64 percent on wooden cabinets, and a 689.50 percent tariff on ceramic tiles from China.