Do you have a source for this information of yours? I have seen these same accusations you are given in comments sections of articles but none provide a source.
And why is it that no charges have been pressed against Gibson? Though we have two raids, millions of dollars of materials confiscated, employees interrogated and harassed, private company documentation confiscated as well but no charges.
If this is to be the government operates whereas they just continue to harass and apply pressure to employees and confiscate records and materials to scour over eventually they will create some sort of case against Gibson but that could probably be done against any company if there was a non-stop witch hunt to find a way to charge them with something. Possibly a employee will even help them fabricate something due to the harassment.
But it would be helpful if you could provide a source for these accusations you are making against Gibson.
Yes, and I can understand why you would be concerned about sources.
There are two incidents involved. The first was the 2009 raid involving Madagascar Ebony and the second were the three (two Gibson plants and the thirty-party warehouse) 2011 raids involving East Indian Rosewood.
The most comprehensive information regarding the 2009 Madagascar Ebony raid is found in the affidavits, search warrant, complaint, exhibits, and other filings in U.S. v. Ebony Wood in Various Forms, Case No. 3:10 CV 00747 (Middle District Tennessee). These are available online at www.pacer.gov, which is where you can find filings in federal court cases and other federal matters. You can access them by using the case number or the style (name) of the case.
Here's the rub: You have to pay by the page to access and view or download each document to your computer. I can't give you a link to the specific documents, but I've paid for them and downloaded them. What you're looking for is the Affidavit of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Special Agent Kevin L. Seiler and the attached documents, and the August 9, 2010 Complaint in Rem.
Here are some articles regarding the Madagascar Ebony situation. I these with a grain of salt, just as I do Gibson's press release and the government filings:
Endangered Species Trafficking: What Did Gibson Know?
Gibson Guitar Working with Rainforest Alliance on Wood Sourcing Legality (interesting, only in that Gibson worked with the Rainforest Alliance on a method to source wood legally after being raided the first time)
Federal agent: Gibson wood investigation likely to result in indictments
Gibson Guitar raided but lips zipped (see bits on ongoing litigation)
Nashville, Memphis Gibson plants raided againRainforest Alliance speaks out on Gibson (FSC does not cover wood from Madagascar)
There are tons of other articles out there, and these don't even address the generic articles on the illegality of logging and exporting Ebony and Rosewood from Madagascar that pre-date Gibson's purchase and the raid. The key details, though, are in the court filings and exhibits that you'll need to get from www.pacer.gov.
You'll notice how many of these articles are about the August 2011 raids, but mention the 2009 raid and the pending lawsuit, including the possibility of indictments against Gibson executives and employees. I believe some even mention the fact that the case was sealed (likely in preparation of the criminal indictments). Yet with all of these articles - from Nashville's newspaper - bloggers and posters are screaming "the government hasn't even taken legal action yet!"
As for the current raids:
Details from the Gibson Search Warrant
Special Agent John Rayfield's Affidavit in Support of Search Warrant
Here's who Luthier Mercantile is. They're a place that you or I might order a guitar-building kit from. The fact that they're involved in the chain of incorrectly designated "ultimate consignees" doesn't mean that, as a fact, something was illegal. It just makes these last shipments through Dallas and Canada curious.
Are there other things I've said for which you want sources?