Akua Mosaics, Inc. and its President Plead Guilty to a Conspiracy to Smuggle Goods into the United States to Avoid Paying Over $1 Million in Duties and Tariffs

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Kenneth Fleming and Akua Mosaics, Inc. (“Akua Mosaics”) pleaded guilty today to a conspiracy to smuggle goods into the United States in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 371 and 545, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico.

According to the plea agreements, from 2021 through June 2022 Akua Mosaics and its president, Kenneth Fleming, conspired to defraud the United States by smuggling and clandestinely importing porcelain mosaic tiles manufactured in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), by falsely representing to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that said merchandise was of Malaysian origin. This was done with the intent to avoid paying anti­dumping duties of approximately 330.69%, countervailing duties of approximately 358.81%, and other duties of approximately 25% which were owed when importing these tiles from PRC to the United States.

Fleming and Akua Mosaics conspired with Shuyi Mo, a citizen and resident of PRC. Between October 2021 and January 2022, these caused a container with porcelain tiles manufactured in PRC to be shipped from PRC to Malaysia. They caused “Made in Malaysia” labels to be placed on boxes containing porcelain tiles manufactured in PRC and then caused a container with porcelain tiles manufactured in PRC to be shipped from Malaysia to Puerto Rico misrepresenting the country of origin as Malaysia, when in fact, PRC was the country of origin. The total amount of unpaid duties and tariffs on this shipment was approximately $1,090,000.

Mo was arrested on April 29, 2023 in the Northern District of California while attempting to the leave the United States. See May 3, 2023 Press Release.  Mo pleaded guilty on to his participation in the conspiracy and was sentenced on September 1, 2023 to the approximately four month term of imprisonment he had served and was removed from the United States. 

Fleming and Akua Mosaics face a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, a three-year term of supervised release, and a payment of $1,090,000 in restitution. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) San Juan Global Trade Investigations Group (GTIG) in collaboration with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander L. Alum is prosecuting the case.

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