Springfield-based home furnishings manufacturer GuildMaster Inc. pleaded guilty yesterday to importing lamps with counterfeit safety certification labels from its Chinese manufacturer.
GuildMaster, represented in court by company CEO Steve Crowder, pleaded guilty to trafficking in goods with counterfeit marks, according to a news release from the office of Tammy Dickinson, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, the company must forfeit to the government 5,585 lamps seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection valued at roughly $1.8 million. GuildMaster also will be placed on five years of probation, and though customs won't impose penalties, it will charge GuildMaster $43,786 to cover expenses related to storing the lamps.
In December 2011, customs discovered the lamps carrying counterfeit Underwriters Laboratories labels, an independent product safety certification organization accredited for safety testing by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Between Jan. 10 and March 21, 2012, federal agents seized the lamps, picking up 10 shipments originating from Dongguan, China. Agents also executed 11 search and seizure warrants at GuildMaster's Springfield headquarters, 1938 E Phelps St., where other counterfeit-marked lamps were found, the release said.
According to the plea agreement, GuildMaster officials maintain its agents and employees had no personal knowledge the company had violated U.S. laws by importing the lamps. Company officials did acknowledge the actions of the employees of its wholly owned Hong Kong-based trading company, Westway Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. As of December 2009, Westway employees knew the Dongguan factory wasn't Underwriters Laboratories-certified, according to the plea.
Before the federal seizures, GuildMaster did not inspect the lamps coming from China to check their authenticity, and in its guilty plea, admitted these marks would have been found if proper inspection had been performed, the release said.
The case is being prosecuted by assistant U.S. attorneys Steven Mohlhenrich and Cynthia Hyde and was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations.
In 2009, GuildMaster changed its name from Decorize Inc. and deregistered its common stock and discontinued public reporting, according to Springfield Business Journal archives. The home furnishings company posted its first annual profit in
fiscal 2009.
