在美代購豪車倒賣中國遭罰沒 檢方撤訴

A luxury car exporter’s nearly two-year legal battle to recover a Porsche Cayenne and $120,786 seized by United States authorities has ended with federal prosecutors in South Carolina agreeing to return the property and drop a civil forfeiture lawsuit.

爲了奪回被美國當局查扣的一輛保時捷卡宴(Porsche Cayenne)和120786美元（約合75萬元人民幣）資金，一名豪華汽車出口商打了近兩年的官司。現在官司結束了，南卡羅來納州的聯邦檢察官同意退還那些財產，並撤銷民事罰沒訴訟。

The deal with the exporter, Alibek Turkayev, follows at least a dozen other similar settlements. In nine states, federal prosecutors have reached agreements with other small companies involved in buying luxury cars in the United States and reselling them overseas, mainly in China, for a big profit.

在與這位名叫阿力別克·圖爾卡耶夫(Alibek Turkayev)的出口商達成妥協之前，已經發生了至少十幾宗類似的和解案例。九個州的聯邦檢察官都與其他小公司達成了協議。這些公司爲了賺取鉅額利潤，在美國購買豪車，再將其轉賣至海外，主要是中國。

In many of those cases, federal authorities in South Carolina, Florida, Georgia and Ohio settled the disputes by returning all of the seized cars. In one of the bigger settlements, federal prosecutors in South Carolina agreed in January to return 57 luxury cars and hundreds of thousands of dollars to Hong Chen and his Mayrock Group, which is based in Virginia.

在其中的許多案件裏，南卡羅來納、佛羅里達、喬治亞和俄亥俄州的聯邦當局，同意退還所有被沒收的車輛，對這些案件達成了和解。在規模較大的一宗和解案中，南卡羅來納州的聯邦檢察官於今年1月同意將57輛豪車，連同數十萬美元返還給陳宏（音）和他名下總部位於弗吉尼亞州的美石集團(Mayrock Group)。

The wave of settlements signals a retreat by federal prosecutors in a campaign against a niche business that seeks to exploit the demand for high-end vehicles in China, where cars that typically retail for $55,000 in the United States can be resold for as much as three times that price.

這一系列和解動作表明，聯邦檢察官打擊一種偏門生意的行動偃旗息鼓了。這門生意力圖利用中國國內對高端汽車的需求，在美國零售價通常爲5.5萬美元的汽車，在中國轉手就可以賣出三倍的價錢。

American export companies were reselling tens of thousands of luxury cars a year to buyers in China and other countries before federal authorities began filing the civil forfeiture lawsuits in 2013 that brought much of the activity to a halt.

在聯邦當局2013年開始提起民事罰沒訴訟之前，美國的出口企業每年會向中國和其他國家的買家，轉售數以萬計的豪車。訴訟行動開始後，大部分轉賣活動停止了。

The crackdown was driven largely by agents with the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security, who questioned whether these small export companies were violating federal law by using straw buyers — people paid small sums to buy cars — to conceal that the vehicles were being bought by people who had no intention of keeping them and were using cash from other people to make the acquisitions. Federal authorities have argued that using straw buyers is a deceptive practice that potentially deprives American consumers of a chance to buy the luxury cars and limits the ability of automakers to keep tight control over sales to domestic dealers and to foreign countries.

這場行動主要是由特勤局(Secret Service)和國土安全部(Department of Homeland Security)的特工推動的。他們懷疑，這些小型出口公司利用“稻草人買家”(straw buyers)的做法違反了聯邦法律。這些被稱爲“稻草人買家”的代購者，付出少量資金來購置車輛，從而掩蓋真實買家無意長期持有車輛，且購車資金來自他人的事實。聯邦當局稱，如此利用代購是一種欺詐行爲，潛在地剝奪了美國消費者購買豪車的機會，而且使汽車廠商無法嚴格控制車輛流向國內經銷商還是國外。

But the Justice Department recently advised its prosecutors to be more judicious in pursuing civil forfeiture actions — and even criminal cases —against car export companies and their owners.

但最近，司法部(Justice Department)建議自己的檢察官，在對汽車出口公司及其老闆提起民事罰沒訴訟，乃至刑事訴訟的行動中，要更審慎一些。

“Over the past year, we have been engaged in a comprehensive review of the asset forfeiture program, including straw-buyer luxury export cases and other aspects of the program,” said Peter Carr, a Justice Department spokesman, in an emailed statement. “As a result of this ongoing review, the department is encouraging prosecutors to pursue civil and criminal sanctions for straw-buyer fraud cases that lead to other criminal violations, such as tax fraud, identify theft fraud and the submission of false export documents.”

“過去一年裏，我們對資產罰沒計劃，包括代購豪車出口案及該計劃的其他方面，進行了全面審覈，”司法部發言人彼得·卡爾(Peter Carr)通過電子郵件發表聲明稱。“因爲這項仍在進行的審覈工作，司法部鼓勵檢察官，對構成其他刑事犯罪（如稅務欺詐、身份盜竊欺詐和提交虛假出口文件）的代購詐騙案件，追究民事和刑事責任。”

In practice, that means using a straw buyer alone to buy a car may not be enough evidence for government agents to seize a vehicle from an export company, said people briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

在操作層面上，這意味着單憑利用“稻草人買家”這一點，可能不構成政府機關沒收出口公司車輛的充分證據，一些瞭解情況的人士在匿名條件下透露。

Since 2013, raids by the Secret Service have resulted in hundreds of Mercedes, Land Rovers, BMWs and Porsches being seized, many of them just as they were waiting to be loaded onto cargo ships. The Porsche bought by Mr. Turkayev’s company was among 14 luxury cars seized by the Secret Service in South Carolina and in Kearny, N.J. Also frozen by the federal government were millions of dollars in proceeds from the sale of cars to overseas buyers.

自2013年以來，在特勤局開展的突擊搜查中，已有數百輛梅賽德斯-奔馳(Mercedes)、路虎(Land Rover)、寶馬(BMW)和保時捷被沒收，其中許多車輛是在等待裝運到貨船上時被沒收的。圖爾卡耶夫的公司購買的那輛保時捷，是特勤局在南卡羅來納州和新澤西州卡尼(Kearny)沒收的14輛豪車中的一輛。聯邦政府還凍結了數百萬美元的資金，這些錢都是向海外買家銷售車輛時取得的。

Brian Leary, a Secret Service spokesman, declined to comment and referred inquiries to the Justice Department.

特勤局發言人布賴恩·利裏(Brian Leary)拒絕發表評論，並表示應詢問司法部。

The policy change stems from a broad review of the federal government’s asset forfeiture procedures by the Justice Department. In January, Eric H. Holder Jr., the United States attorney general, said his office was taking steps to make sure that civil forfeiture cases were brought in such a manner “to take the profit out of crime and return assets to victims, while safeguarding civil liberties.”

這種政策變動源於司法部對聯邦政府資產罰沒程序的廣泛審查。今年1月，美國司法部長小埃裏克·H·霍爾德(Eric H. Holder Jr.)表示，他的辦公室正在採取行動，確保民事罰沒案件在處理時，能夠保證“追討犯罪活動所得的利潤，將資產還給受害者，並同時保障公民自由”。

Civil forfeiture is a powerful tool that prosecutors can use when pursuing cases involving money laundering, terrorism, drug dealing or other illegal activity. But it is a particularly punitive measure because the burden is often on the defendants to prove that any property and cash that are seized were obtained through lawful activities.

檢方在追查涉及洗錢、恐怖主義、販毒或其他違法行爲的案件時，可以利用民事罰沒這種強大的手段。但這種舉措有很強的懲罰性，因爲通常需要被告人來證明，被沒收的資產和現金都是通過合法活動取得的。

Lawyers for Mr. Chen, in court papers, had said the seizures forced Mayrock to “cease operations, depriving Mr. Chen of the assets necessary to support his family, to fund his legal defense and to continue to pursue his livelihood.” Mr. Turkayev said the litigation led him to postpone plans to apply to business school.

陳宏的律師在法庭文件中寫道，罰沒舉措迫使美石集團“停止運營，使陳宏失去了養家餬口、尋求法律辯護，及繼續謀求生計所需的資產”。圖爾卡耶夫表示，此次訴訟導致他推遲了申請商學院的計劃。

A year ago, objections were raised by some car exporters that federal authorities were becoming embroiled in a largely commercial dispute. The car exporters had argued that if automakers had a problem with the reselling of luxury cars overseas, then they needed to put more pressure on car dealerships to insure that a vehicle was being sold to a person for their own personal use.

一年之前，一些汽車出口商提出異議，稱聯邦當局正在介入基本上屬於商業糾紛的局面。汽車出口商辯稱，如果製造商對將豪車轉售至海外的行爲感到不滿，就需要向經銷商施加更多壓力，讓它們確保汽車只出售給自用客戶。

The Justice Department’s shift also coincides with a decision by the New York State attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, and the Department of Homeland Security to put aside a joint criminal investigation into the car export business in the metropolitan area, said several people briefed on that investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

幾名瞭解相關調查的匿名消息人士表示，司法部調整政策時，紐約州總檢察長埃裏克·T·施耐德曼(Eric T. Schneiderman)和國土安全部也決定擱置針對紐約市汽車出口企業的聯合刑事調查。

But not all car export forfeiture cases are being dropped or settled quickly.

但並非所有汽車出口罰沒案件，都會被撤訴或迅速達成和解。

One of the biggest car export forfeiture cases, a lawsuit filed in November 2013 by federal prosecutors in Manhattan that involved the seizure of 48 luxury vehicles, is still active. In January, Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the Federal District Court in Manhattan rejected a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. Judge Failla, in her ruling, said prosecutors had shown sufficient evidence of an “intent to defraud” by the car export company to permit the lawsuit to continue for now.

聯邦檢察官於2013年11月在曼哈頓提起的一宗訴訟仍未結案，在該案中有48輛豪車被沒收，這是最大的汽車出口罰沒案件之一。今年1月，曼哈頓聯邦地區法院的法官凱瑟琳·波爾克·法伊拉(Katherine Polk Failla)否決了駁回訴訟的動議。法官法伊拉在判決書中寫道，檢方出具了充分的證據，表明汽車出口公司“有意欺詐”，因此案件目前仍在繼續審理。

In some settlements, such as ones reached by federal prosecutors in New Jersey and Brooklyn, only half of the cars seized have been returned to the export companies.

在一些和解案件中，比如新澤西和布魯克林的聯邦檢察官達成的和解協議，只有一半被沒收的汽車歸還給了出口公司。

Even some in the luxury car export business concede that some companies use items like fraudulent driver's licenses and fake shipping documents to either conceal what they are doing or avoiding paying state taxes.

甚至連豪華汽車出口公司的一些工作人員都承認，一些公司會利用僞造的駕駛執照和虛假的運輸文件，掩蓋他們的所作所爲或逃避州稅。

Still, lawyers who have been defending car exporting companies praised the Justice Department’s guidance on bringing new civil forfeiture cases.

但爲汽車出口公司辯護的律師，對司法部有關提起新民事罰沒訴訟的指導方針表達了讚許。

Ely Goldin, a lawyer with Fox Rothschild in Pennsylvania who represents Mr. Turkayev and the car exporter in the New York case before Judge Failla, said many of these actions were cases of “civil forfeiture run amok” and many of the car dealerships were aware that many of the cars would be destined for sale overseas. “The dealerships were not deceived,” he said.

圖爾卡耶夫的代理律師、福羅律師事務所(Fox Rothschild)的埃利·戈爾丁(Ely Goldin)表示，很多舉動都是“濫用民事罰沒權”的行爲，而且很多汽車經銷商都知道，很多汽車會被運往海外銷售。他說，“經銷商沒有受騙。”戈爾丁也是法伊拉法官在紐約審理的那宗案件中，涉案汽車出口商的辯護律師。

Mr. Turkayev, who now lives in Brooklyn and goes by the name Alex, said he did nothing wrong in taking advantage of a pricing arbitrage for luxury cars. Still, he said he was not bitter.

目前居住在布魯克林的圖爾卡耶夫又名亞歷克斯(Alex)。他表示自己利用豪車差價套利的做法沒有違法。但他表示自己沒有懷恨在心。

“I can see where they were coming from. They were just doing their jobs,” Mr. Turkayev said of the prosecutors and Secret Service agents involved in his case. “It has been difficult for me, but the justice system worked as it is supposed to.”

“我知道他們的用意，他們只是在做本職工作，”圖爾卡耶夫評價負責該案的檢察官及特勤局特工時說。“這對我來說很艱難，但司法系統是在做他們應該做的事情。”