TORONTO: One of the owners of a Dartmouth store faces Customs Act and Criminal Code charges regarding the importation of bedding accessories from the United States.
Kelly Wall, 42, of Bedford is charged along with two numbered companies doing business as Encore Decor, located in the Portland Street Superstore plaza.
The Canada Border Services Agency alleges that since May 2008, Wall has undervalued shipments of imported goods by about $340,000, thereby evading roughly $78,000 in duty and taxes.
Wall and the companies are accused of committing four offences under the Customs Act – failing to declare imported goods, making false statements concerning the importation of commercial goods, evading the payment of duties and smuggling goods subject to duties.
They also face Criminal Code charges of forgery and uttering forged documents, involving the altering of cargo control papers issued by the border agency.
Lawyer Patrick MacEwen appeared in Dartmouth provincial court this week on behalf of Wall and, for the time being, the two companies.
The Crown provided MacEwen with several binders of evidence. He asked for a couple of months to review the material and discuss it with his client.
Judge Ted Tax docketed the matters to return to court May 20. The Crown expects to be in a position then to elect whether it’s proceeding summarily or by indictment.
A criminal investigator with the border agency began looking into Encore Decor’s records last July after a commercial officer allegedly discovered Wall had not declared all the goods in a shipment of bedding accessories.
Wall allegedly presented documents stating there were eight pallets of bedding material worth $2,073. An inspection determined the shipment actually consisted of 18 pallets of goods with a value of $14,132.
During its investigation, the border agency served production orders on two shipping companies and the Bank of Nova Scotia and executed search warrants at Encore Decor, an accounting firm in Eastern Passage and the homes of Wall and her mother, Annie Wall.
Charges were laid in January against Kelly Wall and two numbered companies. Annie Wall, who owns and operates the store with her daughter, is not accused of any wrongdoing.
