Customs Fraud and Evasion Practices

Double invoicing is a procedure in which the importer and foreign exporter agree to divide the per-unit cost between two invoices. Only one invoice is presented at entry. The second invoice for the balance is forwarded to the importer, either before or after entry, and is paid separately. The customs officials are able to detect the improper value of goods listed on an invoice if they are well seasoned in their work. The double invoicing scheme will work if all of the documents are altered properly.

FEDERAL HABEAS CORPUS RELIEF

A state prisoner who has been incarcerated for a criminal offense by a state court may challenge his or her conviction by filing a petition for habeas corpus relief in a federal court. The federal court has jurisdiction over the prisoner’s custody in a state correctional institution if the incarceration constitutes a violation of the United States Constitution or the laws of the United States. The prisoner’s federal habeas corpus petition seeks to secure the release of the prisoner from an unlawful custody. However, in order to be able to file the federal habeas corpus petition, the prisoner must be in custody, the custody must be unlawful, and the prisoner must have exhausted his or her state remedies.

INCEST

A person commits the offense of incest when he or she engages in sexual intercourse with a family member or a relative. A family member or a relative is usually defined as any ancestor or descendant by blood or adoption, any stepchild or stepparent while the marriage that created the step relationship exists, any parent’s brother or sister by whole or half blood, any brother or sister of whole or half blood or by adoption, or the children of any brother or sister of whole or half blood or by adoption. The person must know that the other person is a relative. However, the relative does not need to be legitimate.

OFFENSES INVOLVING PUBLIC SERVANTS

A public servant is a governmental officer, employee, or agent, a juror or a grand juror, an arbitrator or a referee, an attorney or a notary public, a political party official or a political candidate, or anyone who is performing a governmental function. A person is a public servant even if he or she has only been elected to office and has not assumed the duties of his or her office.

PROBATION

Probation is a type of sentencing by which a trial court suspends the imposition of imprisonment and releases a defendant into the community based upon certain conditions. Probation is an alternative to imprisonment. Probation is similar to parole because it grants freedom from incarceration.