United States v. Ben Tan

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF No. 20-56399

AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee, D.C. No. 8:20-cv-02165-JVS-ADS v.

BEN GHEE TAN, OPINION

Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California James V. Selna, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted October 6, 2021 Pasadena, California

Filed November 1, 2021

Before: Susan P. Graber, Morgan Christen, and John B. Owens, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Graber SUMMARY*

Administrative Subpoena

The panel affirmed the district court’s order enforcing an administrative summons issued by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection division of the Department of Homeland Security.

Appellant Ben Tan operates businesses that import agricultural merchandise, and the director of a section within Customs that specializes in agricultural imports served him with an administrative summons to compel him to provide testimony. After Tan refused to appear, the government filed a petition in the district court to enforce the summons, as provided by 19 U.S.C. §…