Men slapped with fines for not declaring pricey watches
Two men who failed to declare their pricey watches were recently slapped with hefty fines in Richmond provincial court.
West Vancouver’s Chang Fen Lu returned to Canada from Hong Kong on Sept. 23 of last year, and failed to declare a $20,000 Chopard watch.
He declared he was returning with $200 worth of goods. But during a secondary examination, officers found an invoice and certificate of origin relating to a Chopard watch, which they eventually found inside his jacket pocket, and was valued at $19,993. The watch was seized and criminal charges were laid.
Lu pled guilty in Richmond provincial court last week, and was fined $3,518.77. In addition, Lu will have to pay a penalty of between 25 per cent and 80 per cent of the value of the watch in order to have it returned.
On March 1, Vancouver’s Er Wei Liu was fined $15,399.08. in Richmond provincial court for failing to declare an $82,745 Patek Philippe watch—among other things—that officers found inside a wooden box marked Patek Philippe Geneve.
Liu returned to Vancouver International Airport on Aug. 12, 2011 and failed to declare the designer watch, clothing, shoes and a briefcase. He pled guilty to one count of attempting to evade duty under the customs act. In order to have the items returned, he’ll have to pay an additional penalty of as much as 80 per cent of the value of the items seized.
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