Tafmutt Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Gibson Guitar Corp. has agreed to pay a fine for illegally importing exotic wood from Madagascar and India, the U.S. government said Monday. Gibson will pay a $300,000 penalty to avoid criminal charges for importing ebony and rosewood in violation of the Lacey Act, which prohibits the acquisition of plant products that are protected in other countries, the Department of Justice said in a statement. In this case, Gibson was accused of illegally importing ebony from Madagascar and India, as well as rosewood from India. The guitar maker will also have to make a "community service payment" of $50,000 to the U.S. National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to promote conservation and development of tree species used in making musical instruments. The company also will withdraw its claims to the $262,000 worth of exotic woods seized by federal authorities, said the Department of Justice. The settlement stems an incident last year, when agents from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service raided two of Gibson's factories in Tennessee and its Nashville headquarters on Aug. 24. At the time, Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz said the agents confiscated about $1 million in Indian ebony as well as guitars and electronic data. Guitar maker Fender files for IPO Gibson spokesman was not immediately available for comment to CNNMoney about the settlement. On July 19, the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed piece by Juszkiewicz that detailed the raid, which he says cost his company $2 million to $3 million in products and productivity. He also said the importation was in compliance with the laws of India. He called the U.S. government's actions an 'overreach" and a "job killer." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 . Finally some news. Spank . . <_< . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTNJ Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Where is the Gibson response to all this? They should have made a preemptive statement so this news item would have had less of damaging blow. As it is, it looks like Gibson was lying all along by admitting to everything. GTNJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jannusguy2 Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Where is the Gibson response to all this? As it is, it looks like Gibson was lying all along by admitting to everything. GTNJ That's exactly how I read it. And, that suspicion first emerged last year with the phony tea-party rally orchestrated in TN. I had a hunch something was rotten in Nashville when that stunt was cooked up. I wonder how all those folks who came out to support Henry feel today.... they were lied to and used plain and simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merseybeat1963 Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 You know who is gonna pay for this,.. Us,not Gibson's guys personally. A Corp is like a living entity but with no feelings or breath. Only calculation. It will as it always is, & naturally so, all be built into the price of the product. And the shame is the majority of buyers are musicians and like most artists..exercising the art almost as a community service.. Most of the time performing for nearly or actually nothing. Its Iike an indirect tax. And Im not complaining for my own sake. Reading the thing on this site by someone who posted it all in the past..this is another example of a country that seems to be purposefully sabotaging itself. If they had shaped the wood before it left those countries instead of sent here in rough state where it was shaped by us, it would not have broken the law! Maybe we should take a look more closely at the site put up by the musician... JimCorr.com and read under the subtitle New World Order Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Maybe we should take a look more closely at the site put up by the musician... JimCorr.com and read under the subtitle New World Order Oh dear! The black helicopters are coming for us........ Seriously, most comtemporary musicians are better off when they make music, rather than jumping feet-first into political quagmire. And that goes on all sides of the political spectrum. If you're going to be a political musician, you need to study the way the great ones, like Woody, Pete Seeger, and Bobby D did it. Put it into music. Be witty, clever, simple, complex, and profound at the same time, but do it in your music so we can all appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 aww come on now ! touring around with those three girls and not being able to go near them would test any mans sanity ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParlourMan Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 not being able to go near them would test any mans sanity ! haw haw :D :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 he's lost the plot bless him , he lives literally the other side of belfast lough from me . hasnt taken to running about in lilac tracksuits yet a la david icke ,but i'll keep an eye open Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merseybeat1963 Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Oh dear! The black helicopters are coming for us........ Seriously, most comtemporary musicians are better off when they make music, rather than jumping feet-first into political quagmire. And that goes on all sides of the political spectrum. If you're going to be a political musician, you need to study the way the great ones, like Woody, Pete Seeger, and Bobby D did it. Put it into music. Be witty, clever, simple, complex, and profound at the same time, but do it in your music so we can all appreciate it. : ) Actually i live near Newark airport..and as if living near Newark is not dangerous enough..Ive noticed some pretty loud helicopter sounds occationally... It's not really potitical its more like a Social Study..& what you say is true..but the chicks don't want to play anymore ,so he's going mad back at home especially when he comes up upon this stuff & the probability that most of it is true. Jim has gone almost into shock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merseybeat1963 Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 aww come on now ! touring around with those three girls and not being able to go near them would test any mans sanity ! Its true..the starting bid on that Singer was One Billion i understand.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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