Defending Importers Against the Trade Fraud Task Force: FCA Investigations and Customs Penalties

Jennifer M. Smith-Veluz, Shareholder | Butzel Long

Jennifer M. Smith-Veluz is a Shareholder in Butzel Long’s Washington, DC office with nearly two decades of experience in international trade law. Her practice spans the full range of trade matters, including international trade agreements and dispute resolution, antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings, export controls, economic sanctions and embargoes, anti-boycott laws, customs compliance, and trade adjustment assistance. She represents clients before the International Trade Commission, the Department of Commerce, Customs and Border Protection, the Department of State, the Department of the Treasury, the Office of the US Trade Representative, and the Department of Labor, and advises businesses across a wide range of industries on managing global trade risk.

• Education & Credentials

Ms. Smith-Veluz earned her J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center, where she served as Articles Editor of The Georgetown Law Review, and her B.A., summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from The George Washington University. She is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and New York, and before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the United States Court of International Trade. Before entering private practice, she clerked for Chief Judge Jane A. Restani at the United States Court of International Trade. She speaks Spanish.

• Recognition & Leadership

Ms. Smith-Veluz has been named to The Best Lawyers in America for International Trade and Finance Law from 2023 through 2026, recognized by Washington DC Super Lawyers in International in 2025, and listed as a Washington DC Super Lawyers Rising Star in International from 2014 through 2024. She was appointed to the US NAFTA Chapter 19 Roster of Panelists from 2019 to 2023, adjudicating trade remedy disputes.

• Professional Involvement

Ms. Smith-Veluz serves as Co-Chair of the Publications Committee of the Customs and International Trade Bar Association and as a member of the Georgetown University Law Center International Trade Update Advisory Board. She is a member of the District of Columbia Bar, the New York State Bar Association, and Women In International Trade, and she writes and speaks frequently on trade and compliance issues.

• Experience

Beyond agency advocacy, Ms. Smith-Veluz guides clients on the design and implementation of import and export compliance programs, and conducts compliance assessments and due diligence reviews in mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining Butzel, she practiced international trade law at other Washington, DC firms. Her published work has appeared in outlets including Law360, the UC Davis Law Review Online, and the Georgetown Law Journal, and she has been quoted on trade developments in The Wall Street Journal, Automotive News, and The Detroit News.

Damien DuMouchel, Shareholder | Butzel Long

Damien DuMouchel is a Shareholder in Butzel Long’s Troy office. His practice concentrates on white collar criminal defense, corporate investigations, and professional discipline matters for lawyers and judges, including the defense of individuals and corporations in federal investigations and prosecutions.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. DuMouchel earned his J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law in 2010 and his B.A. from Boston College in 2004, where he completed a double major in psychology and sociology. He is admitted to practice in Michigan and before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

• Recognition & Leadership

Mr. DuMouchel has been named to The Best Lawyers in America for Criminal Defense: White-Collar from 2024 through 2026, after earlier recognition in the Ones to Watch category for the same field in 2022 and 2023. He has been listed among DBusiness Top Lawyers in Metro Detroit for White-Collar Criminal Defense in 2017, 2018, and 2020 through 2025, and was named a Michigan Super Lawyers Rising Star in White-Collar Criminal Defense from 2018 through 2021.

• Professional Involvement

Mr. DuMouchel is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, the American Bar Association, and the Federal Bar Association, where he serves on the Criminal Practice Committee.

• Experience

Mr. DuMouchel has represented individuals and corporations under investigation for, or charged with, False Claims Act matters, antitrust violations, healthcare fraud, export violations, Small Business Administration violations, bribery, extortion, tax evasion, subscribing a false tax return, and obstruction of justice. He assists clients with grand jury investigations, subpoenas, and search warrants, has conducted internal corporate investigations, and has helped establish and monitor corporate compliance programs. His representative matters include defending a corporation and executive in a federal grand jury investigation of export violations and representing multiple Japanese auto supplier companies in criminal antitrust investigations conducted by the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division. He also represents lawyers and judges in matters before the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission and the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission.

SESSION 1 – Preventing and Responding to Trade Fraud Investigations | 12:00pm – 1:00pm

This session covers the basics of customs law compliance, the most common types of trade fraud targeted in Government investigations and FCA cases, and the pre-filing phase of Trade Fraud Task Force investigations, from the structural shift in DOJ enforcement posture to the practical defense decisions that determine whether a matter stays administrative or escalates to a civil False Claims Act case or criminal prosecution. Attorneys will learn how investigations are triggered, how to respond to Civil Investigative Demands and CBP pre-penalty notices, when voluntary self-disclosure is advantageous, and how to manage parallel proceedings risks before a complaint is ever filed. Attendees will leave with a concrete framework for advising importer clients the moment an investigation signal appears.

BREAK | 1:00pm – 1:10pm

SESSION 2 – Litigating and Settling the Customs False Claims Act Case | 1:10pm – 2:10pm

This session covers the full litigation and settlement lifecycle of a customs False Claims Act case, from evaluating core defenses through negotiating resolution. Attorneys will examine the landmark Ninth Circuit decision in Island Industries v. Sigma Corp. (2025), reverse false claims theory, qui tam dynamics, and the anatomy of recent DOJ settlements including Perfectus Aluminum’s $549.5 million resolution. Practitioners will leave with a working framework for assessing scienter, materiality, damages exposure, and parallel proceedings risk in Trade Fraud Task Force investigations.