Just last year, Lumber Liquidators pleaded guilty to environmental crimes. And just recently, the Toano-based company is sentenced with the payment of more than $13 million for illegally importing hardwood flooring.
According to Tampa Bay Saratosa, the company will pay more than $13 million in fines and restitution. Lumber liquidators pleaded guilty to both felony and misdemeanor charges back in October 2015. And under the plea agreement, Lumber Liquidators will shell out $13.15 million, in which the $7.8 million in criminal fines, the $969,175 in criminal forfeiture and more than $1.23 million in community service payments are already included.
The Department of Justice claimed that Lumber Liquidators made hardwood floors in China from illegally cut Mongolian oak trees in Russia. Those trees are present to protect endangered Siberian tigers and Amur leopards since their prey eats the acorns from them, the Justice Department added.
The Department of Justice also said that the penalty is the biggest for timber trafficking under the Lacey Act. But Lumber Liquidators responded in a statement via Yahoo! Finance on Monday that it is "pleased to put this legacy issue behind us."
The company is also being charged for transporting the illegally imported timber from its warehouses in Toano to customers online, retail stores in Virginia and other states. And just last year, the company's CEO resigned, which made the company's shares were down about 15%. The company faced earlier allegations that the wood contained toxic chemicals and halting the sales of laminate flooring from China. Over 100 class action lawsuits were filed against the company.
A joint statement of facts gathered was filed with the court. It showed that the company repeatedly failed to act on "self-identified red flags", which included imports from high-risk countries, as well as imports from companies which are unable to present documentation of their legal harvest. Moreover, the Lumber Liquidators employees were also reportedly oriented of what the company is producing, which is the lumber from Russia that considered to carry a high risk of being illegal, as reported by Wavy.
Along with the fines, the company has agreed to a five-year term of organizational probation and mandatory implementation of a government-approved environmental compliance plan. The community service will benefit the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation as well as the USFWS Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Fund.
