False Declaration of Species Sample Clauses

False Declaration of Species. (Count Three) LL increased purchases of Russian oak flooring in 2012 and 2013. The majority of these purchases were from a China-based conglomerate that included another of LL’s Chinese suppliers, known herein as “Company Y.” Company Y is a part of group of companies that conduct a variety of timber-related activities, including the milling and manufacture of timber into flooring products that are then sold throughout the world. Company Y’s corporate affiliates have operations in Northern China along the border with Russia, as well as in Far East Russia. In May 2013, certain LL employees began cataloguing supplemental documentation collected for products that LL was purchasing out of China. The documentation was received by certain China RO personnel and entered into a spreadsheet (“tracking sheet”) that was shared with certain employees in the U.S. Between May 29, 2013, and July 14, 2013, LL purchased and imported 35 shipments of solid oak flooring from Company Y, which form the basis of Count Three. These wood flooring shipments were sent from China to Norfolk, Virginia. After the importations, LL subsequently shipped and transported these wood products to LL warehouse facilities, to online retail customers and to LL’s retail stores for sale in Virginia and other states. The 35 shipments totaled 677,880 ft2 (1,134 m3) of solid oak flooring, with an estimated retail value of $3,518,197.20, and resulted in an approximate profit to LL of $1,442,460.85. Company Y provided LL with documentation showing a harvest concession within Far East Russia (which provides the lessee the right to log certain species within defined areas), chain-of-custody documents, and Russian phytosanitary certificates. The phytosanitary certificates for these shipments declared that the wood was Mongolian oak, which is the only species of oak that grows in Far East Russia. See Russian Phytosanitary Permit, Appx. at 2. Certain RO personnel in China received the documents and entered identifying information for the harvest concession permit and phytosanitary permits into their tracking spreadsheet, which was then shared with an employee in the U.S. Contrary to the supplemental documentation, the Lacey Act Declarations for each of the 35 shipments stated that the wood LL imported from Company Y was Quercus petraea, commonly called sessile oak, Welsh oak, or Irish oak. Welsh oak is considered a species that presents a low risk of being illegally harvested because its growing range is pred...