Authorities raid Gibson Guitar factory in downtown Memphis

[tmihm]

Hot off the press.

If this is the case, they should certainly know better, eh? I think this happened once before too, but not sure. I read (from Bob Taylor as well as others) about the intense international scrutiny RE the cutting and shipping the stuff. I'm also guessing (hoping) these 'authorities' know the differences of the woods?

http://www.wmctv.com/story/15323207/authorities-raid-gibson-guitar-factory-in-downtown-memphis?Call=Email&Format=HTML%0D%0A

[pluto]

For some reason, the link doesn't work for me. I thought the raid occurred late last year or earlier this year. I recall reading about it in the other forums. If this is a new raid, this must be a part of a continuing investigation. I wonder who the inside snitch is who is providing all the pertinent info to the feds in order to justify the raid?

[tmihm]

I fixed that link pluto...sorry and thanks for letting me know. This was just from this morning.

In a nut shell:

MEMPHIS, TN - (WMC-TV) – Authorities are conducting a raid today at the Gibson Guitar factory in downtown Memphis.

Few details have been released about the raid, which is being carried about by agents with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service. Officials said agents were serving a search warrant as part of an ongoing investigation.

Gibson has been under a cloud of suspicion because of wood that was used in some of its guitars. Gibson's factory in Nashville was raided last year because federal authorities believed some of the company's guitar parts were made from wood that was illegally cut and shipped from Madagascar.

In addition to activity in Memphis, a government spokesperson said, a similar raid is being carried out today at the Nashville factory.

The factory in Memphis is closed for the day, and employees have been sent home.

Action News 5 has a crew at the scene. Check back for updates on this story.

[pluto]

Thanks for providing the info. Wow, I hadn't even known madagascar wood was illegal. Sucks for gibson, but unless gibson has superior record keeping, I would think the feds will have a hard case.

[djphaneuf]

Gibson Guitar Corp. Responds to Federal Raid
08.25.2011
Henry Juszkiewicz, Chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar Corp., has responded to the August 24 raid of Gibson facilities in Nashville and Memphis by the Federal Government. In a press release, Juszkiewicz said: “Gibson is innocent and will fight to protect its rights. Gibson has complied with foreign laws and*believes it is innocent of ANY wrong doing.*We will fight aggressively to prove our innocence.”

The raids forced Gibson to cease manufacturing operations and send workers home for the day while armed agents executed the search warrants. “Agents seized wood that was Forest Stewardship Council controlled,” Juszkiewicz said. “Gibson has a long history of supporting sustainable and responsible sources of wood and has worked diligently with entities such as the Rainforest Alliance and Greenpeace to secure FSC-certified supplies. The wood seized on August 24 satisfied FSC standards.”

Juszkiewicz believes that the Justice Department is bullying Gibson without filing charges.

“The Federal Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. has suggested that the use of wood from India that is not finished by Indian workers is illegal, not because of U.S. law, but because it is the Justice Department’s interpretation of a law in India. (If the same wood from the same tree was finished by Indian workers, the material would be legal.)*This action was taken without the support and consent of the government in India.”

[pluto]

If what Henry is saying is true about the reason for the raid, I can't believe what a waste of money this investigation is.



Gibson Guitar Corp. Responds to Federal Raid
08.25.2011
Henry Juszkiewicz, Chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar Corp., has responded to the August 24 raid of Gibson facilities in Nashville and Memphis by the Federal Government. In a press release, Juszkiewicz said: “Gibson is innocent and will fight to protect its rights. Gibson has complied with foreign laws and*believes it is innocent of ANY wrong doing.*We will fight aggressively to prove our innocence.”
R
The raids forced Gibson to cease manufacturing operations and send workers home for the day while armed agents executed the search warrants. “Agents seized wood that was Forest Stewardship Council controlled,” Juszkiewicz said. “Gibson has a long history of supporting sustainable and responsible sources of wood and has worked diligently with entities such as the Rainforest Alliance and Greenpeace to secure FSC-certified supplies. The wood seized on August 24 satisfied FSC standards.”

Juszkiewicz believes that the Justice Department is bullying Gibson without filing charges.

“The Federal Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. has suggested that the use of wood from India that is not finished by Indian workers is illegal, not because of U.S. law, but because it is the Justice Department’s interpretation of a law in India. (If the same wood from the same tree was finished by Indian workers, the material would be legal.)*This action was taken without the support and consent of the government in India.”

[GuitArtMan]

They were raided back in 2009 for the same or similar reason. I can't find the post, but there was something just last month that implied that Gibson knew that the woods they were using were illegally harvested and might have even encouraged it. I'm assuming that's why the raid now. Wish I could find that link.

[korinabill]

http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/News/

If you pull up the URL above and scroll halfway down, you can view the Henry Juszkiewicz statement & interview. It's fairly long, but interesting.

[kmstudio]

Check this article for a great overview of how dangerous the situation has become for all instruments. A guitar is bad enough, but Bosendorfers?!?!?

http://deadlinelive.info/2011/08/26/feds-raid-gibson-guitar-factory-jobs/

[uburoibob]

If you go to the local Memphis news sites, you can see what the boutique news outlets omitted from their stories, and that is that Gibson allegedly falsified documents. I ain't saying that they did, but this case has attracted the anti-government type news outlets and they've been using it to try and get people fired up. I think I will wait to see how it plays out before passing judgement.

Bob

[strat56]

I've only ever heard one side of the story, Gibson's, but I think the fact that the Government is being quiet about it is not helping them. If they have indeed found something shady in Gibson's wood buying practices then why haven't they said anything about it?

I kind of doubt that Gibson would falsify records. They're just too big for someone or some group to have decided to do it and not have it be publicized. I'd more likely believe that one of Gibson's suppliers might have falsified something and Gibson didn't know about it.

When this law was passed there was a very good article in Vintage Guitar that predicted this very thing. It also talked about how owners of guitars made with protected woods would not be able to travel with them because no one has documentation on their 1928 Martin saying that the guitar was built before the Lacey Act. Why would they? No one knew they would ever need it.

I think it's a shame, not necessarily what happened to Gibson, maybe they deserved and maybe they didn't, I have a feeling we'll never know, but that the law is written in such a way that anyone caught with a guitar or any instrument for that matter, made with protected substances that doesn't have the documentation can be fined and have their instrument confiscated with no recourse or way to recover it.