UK P&I club issued an article today regarding a recent case to extort funds through fraudulent invoicing. The fraud was revealed when an accounts clerk and the master of the vessel targeted discovered the false invoice. Mentioned vessel was billed for “Harbour and General Port services” however the itemised bill, including MARPOL discharge costs, were covered by the usual ports dues.
On May 24 a federal jury in Miami convicted a Miami-based ship surveyor for lying to the Coast Guard and for falsely certifying the safety of ships at sea, announced Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division at the Department of Justice; Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Rear Admiral William D. Baumgartner, Commander, 7th Coast Guard District; and Jonathan Sall, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service.
The ship surveyor, was convicted by a federal jury in Miami of three counts of making false statements to the U.S. Coast Guard and one count of obstruction of an agency proceeding. The defendant faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison on each count.
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Officer of the Watch 