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1993-03-05
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03/03/1993 LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A U.S. Customs inspector pleaded guilty
to accepting $1.7 million in bribes in what officials called the largest
scheme of its kind in agency history.
Daniel W. Ekman, 53, of Whittier entered the plea Tuesday in federal
court. He also admitted helping to smuggle restricted goods and
falsifying records so the importers could avoid inspections, quotas and
nearly $5 million in duties since 1987, authorities said.
Ekman, a senior inspector at the Port of Los Angeles, could receive
up to an 85-year prison term and $2 million fine when he is sentenced in
June.
Authorities contended he illegally passed imports from China, Hong
Kong, Singapore and Thailand ranging from cotton clothing to insecticide
and jellyfish.
"The controls we needed to put in place just weren't sufficient,
frankly," said John H. Heinrich, director of the U.S. Customs Service in
Los Angeles. "That's what we learned from this case."
Ekman entered restricted goods as unrestricted items in agency
computers. For example, Chinese T-shirts were listed as hair dryers, the
U.S. attorney's office said.
New policies will limit inspectors' access to computers and rotate
inspectors, Heinrich said.
A search of Ekman's garage last November turned up $1.2 million in
cash, and another $500,000 was found in safety deposit boxes.