Prosecutors: PCB company involved in NAFTA violations

PANAMA CITY BEACH — A contact man between a Panama City Beach company and buyers of illegal exports has pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate international trade laws.

Gilberto Lopez, 49, of Manhattan, was one of three men facing federal conspiracy charges for various roles in a Panama City Beach-based company called Freedom Marketing Inc. Lopez identified himself as a consultant to the company from 2005 to 2009 when Freedom bought auto parts from a Chinese manufacturer, relabeled them as “Made in the USA” and then sold them to unwitting buyers in Central and South America.

John Wall, president of Freedom Marketing, and Casey Patrick Lee, manager, have also been indicted on a charge of conspiracy to defraud the federal government.

Specific dates identified by investigators over three months indicated more than 114 unmarked or incorrectly marked crates, claiming the contents were “Processed in the USA,” left Freedom Marketing for Mexico and Venezuela in early-2007. On April 25, 2007, Lopez received an email photo from a sales representative in Mexico of boxes with “Korean Air” stickers on the outside.

Lopez convinced the representative to accept the parts, but the rep responded with one complaint.

“It’s obvious,” he wrote.

Lopez had been instructing the employees at the factory to never tell customers the products were made in China, and after the discovery Lopez sent an email to Lee, manager of the company, reiterating the need for discretion.

“Casey, the guys in the factory cannot leave ‘Korean Air’ stickers on this stuff,” court documents stated.

False and misleading shipping labels are a violation of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), intended to promote commerce among Canada, Mexico and the USA. NAFTA is the world’s largest free-trade area in terms of GDP. It allows anyone who signs a NAFTA agreement tariff-free commerce among the participating nations.

Lee, Lopez and Wall had signed NAFTA certificates.

The indictment further alleged Lee and Wall made multiple trips to China to arrange purchases and shipments from a company named Qingdao Haizhiguan to Panama City Beach, instructing their employees to package the parts in different boxes and label the boxes as “Made in the USA,” according to court documents.

Wall, president of Freedom Marketing, and Lopez contacted brokers in Mexico to arrange the sell side of the business and both knew the origin of the auto parts, Lopez testified.

Lopez could face up to five years in prison, $250,000 in fines and seizure of his assets during his November sentence hearing.