Argentina Customs Seizes Nearly $21 Million In Mining Machines

The import to Argentina consisted of around 2,233 Whatsminer brand cryptocurrency mining machines. Antminer and Whatsminer are two of the most recognized brands of Bitcoin miners.

The import was seized due to irregularities: it was invoiced by a foreign LLC based in Florida and for higher than market values.

The investigation revealed that the invoice was overvalued for $5 million USD over market price in a tax fraud attempt. The invoice tried to claim an average unit value of $10,000, while the models actually cost between $5,700 and $7,700 each. The machines arrived in Ezeiza, Argentina and was heading for the Free Trade Zone in La Plata. Free trade zones are locations where goods can be imported, exported, manufactured, handled, and reconfigured without involvement of customs agencies.

The import attempt is a typical triangulation maneuver where goods are over-invoiced to a foreign company to take advantage of free trade zone customs operations. Customs has been taking action recently to suppress these import maneuvers.

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