Sunseeker International Limited and Sunseeker USA Sales Co. Inc. pleaded guilty this week to two violations of the Lacey Act for using illegally obtained Burmese teak on yachts imported into the United States. The teak items included a balcony door intended for incorporation into a yacht and teak parts incorporated into two yachts priced at approximately $2.98 million and $1.07 million, and the company agreed to pay a $200,000 fine and to implement a compliance plan, the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs reported.
Sunseeker manufactures its vessels in the United Kingdom and sells them internationally, including in the United States. The company pleaded guilty in the U.K. in 2023 to three criminal violations of the U.K.'s Timber and Timber Products Regulations and was sentenced and fined approximately $450,000; the teak imports that Sunseeker imported into the U.S. came from the illegal teak imports charged in the U.K. case.
The illegal logging of teak in Myanmar has been a known problem since at least 2017. Both the United States and the United Kingdom have imposed sanctions related to Myanmar, and the U.S. has sanctioned the Myanma Timber Enterprise, the sole authorized seller of export teak harvested in Myanmar; U.S. sanctions prohibit transactions by U.S. persons or transactions transiting the United States that involve property or interests associated with the Myanma Timber Enterprise.
TIMBER Working Group estimates the U.S. forest products industry loses $500 million annually to trafficking through depressed wood prices and lost export opportunities.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investigated the case. Trial Attorney Emily R. Stone of the Environment and Natural Resources Division's Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosenfeld for the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case. Sunseeker is set to be sentenced on Aug. 20.