Speaking Engagement

Jan 18, 2018

Andrew S. Boutros to Present to the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration Employee Engagement at the 5th Annual ITA Day

“Honeygate: Trade & Customs Fraud Enforcement and White-Collar Crime”
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Address

Washington, D.C.

U.S. Department of Commerce
1401 Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20230

Agenda
11:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. Eastern

On January 18, Seyfarth Shaw LLP partner Andrew S. Boutros, National Co-Chair of the firm’s White Collar, Internal Investigations and False Claims Act Team, will present as one of the keynote speakers at ITA Day at the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration in Washington, D.C.  Co-presenting with Mr. Boutros will be Special Agent Matthew T. Gauder, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Securities Investigations (HSI).  Messrs. Boutros and Gauder’s presentation is entitled, “Honeygate: Trade & Customs Fraud Enforcement and White-Collar Crime.”  Their presentation will highlight their successful efforts (while Mr. Boutros was still a federal prosecutor) as well as that of the Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department to prosecute the importers and a wide net of other supply chain actors involved in these fraudulent schemes.  Mr. Boutros and Mr. Gauder will discuss the criminal implications of country-of-origin and other trade fraud violations, including prosecutorial charging theories; available charging statutes; recent demonstrative prosecutions; and future trends.

Messrs. Boutros and Gauder’s presentation also coincides with Netflix’s January 5th, 2018 release of its new series, Rotten, which exposes the fraud and corruption in certain segments of our food industry, including from food merchandise imported from overseas.  One of the six episodes will be dedicated to what has been dubbed as “Honeygate,” which was successfully investigated and prosecuted by Mr. Boutros when he was a federal prosecutor in the United States Attorney’s Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago) and Agent Gauder, who is still a Special Agent ICE-HSI (Chicago), along with other members of their law enforcement team.  Their cases still stand as the largest customs fraud, food fraud, and international trade fraud cases ever prosecuted in U.S. history, with 27 defendants charged, $260 million in losses, all apprehended defendants convicted, and their cases being featured repeatedly in both chambers of Congress (U.S. House and U.S. Senate) as well as the press as trailblazing cases with extraordinary results. 

To learn more about the Netflix series or the Honeygate episode, please see:

For questions, please contact Andrew Boutros at aboutros@seyfarth.com