In addition, I convict the defendant of two offenses of using a forged document, under section 420 of the Penal Law. I do not believe that the defendant should be convicted of four separate offenses, as the prosecution believes, since the documents were submitted in the framework of only two registers.
The goods were received, at least in part, by defendant 1, under false pretenses, using forged documents, and therefore defendant 1 should be convicted of the offense of fraudulent receipt under aggravated circumstances, under section 415 of the Penal Law. The aggravating circumstances stem from the sophistication of the fraud, its scope and dimensions, and its being the result of a planned and systematic effort.
I do not see fit to convict defendant 1 of another offense of fraudulent receipt, or of attempting to receive, as alleged by the prosecution. Faithful to my approach, I do not believe that the defendant should be convicted of the offense of fraudulent receipt, insofar as it relates to the satisfaction of the doubter, that this is a valid transaction and real parties to that transaction.
However, defendant 1 should be convicted of the offense of attempting to obtain something fraudulently, under aggravated circumstances, under section 415 together with section 25 of the Penal Law, for the attempt to fraudulently receive the balance of the goods, which were not ultimately released from customs.
In addition, there is a basis for convicting the defendant of the offense of evading the payment of customs duties that must be paid, under section 212(a)1 together with section 218 of the Customs Ordinance, for evading the required tax payments, following the submission of the false supplier's account.
In addition, defendant 1 should be convicted of attempting to commit this offense, insofar as the balance of the goods that were not released, due to the fact that here too the defendant relied on a false doubt.
Alongside all this, defendant 1 should be convicted of the other offenses attributed to him, according to the Customs Ordinance, the Purchase Tax Law, and the VAT Law.