ELECTROLUX HOME PRODUCTS TO PAY UNITED STATES NEARLY $700,000
TO SETTLE ALLEGATIONS OF CUSTOMS FRAUD

WASHINGTON, D.C.- Electrolux Home Products has agreed to pay the United States

$687,781.77 to settle claims that it defrauded the U.S. Customs Service from 1996 to 2001, the Justice Department announced today. Electrolux Home Products, located in Augusta, Georgia, was formerly Frigidaire Home Products.

Today's civil settlement resolves allegations that Electrolux defrauded the government by failing to declare the value of certain tooling molds, assembly labels and parts that it provided to overseas manufacturers on entry summaries it filed with the Customs Service.

"This settlement illustrates the Justice Department's determination to recover funds that are owed to the United States," said Robert D. McCallum, Jr., Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division. "We will continue to vigorously enforce the False Claims Act for the protection of the taxpayers and the United States government."

The allegations arose from a lawsuit filed by Jay Weatherford, a former customs compliance officer of Electrolux, under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act, a federal law that allows private individuals to sue on behalf of the United States. The lawsuit was unsealed today in Texarkana, Arkansas.

The civil investigation and settlement were jointly handled by the Office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas and the Civil Division of the Department of Justice, with assistance from the United States Customs Service.

The action is entitled United States ex rel. Jay Weatherford v. Frigidaire Home Products, also known as Frigidaire Home Products Division of White Consolidated Industries, Inc., Civil Action No. 00-4168 (W.D. Ark.).

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