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Lumber Liquidators raided by feds

Investigators from the Department of Homeland Security, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and the Department of Justice raided the offices of the hardwood floor retailer.
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Published: Sept. 27, 2013 at 4:45 PM
By GABRIELLE LEVY, UPI.com

Federal authorities raided offices of hardwood flooring retailer Lumber Liquidators Thursday, sending stocks plummeting as the company scrambled to defend its sourcing policies.

No arrests were made and search warrants remained sealed Friday, said Brandon Montgomery ,a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security. Also involved were Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and the Department of Justice.

As the news broke Friday, stocks of the retailer fell 10 percent.

The company said it is cooperating fully with the investigation.

"Lumber Liquidators sources its products directly from approximately 110 domestic and international mills around the world," the company said in a statement. As a result of the normal course of business, the Company is subject to a range of international and domestic regulations."

"Due to the scale of its international and domestic operations, Lumber Liquidators has policies and procedures in place for the sourcing, harvesting and manufacturing of its products designed to comply with federal and other regulations related to the importation of wood flooring products," it said. "The Company has more than 60 professionals around the world who perform and monitor those processes."

Unconfirmed reports indicated the investigation involved wood the company said was sourced from Russia, but may have in fact been from other countries. The wood in question may also have originated in the habitat of the endangered Siberian tiger.

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