The federal government has filed a new forfeiture complaint against renowned local guitar maker Gibson.

In addition to now-two-year-old forfeiture of Malagay ebony sought by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Nashville icon now faces the civil forfeiture of Indian wood seized in late June, which led to a raid in August on the company's Nashville and Memphis offices.

According to an affidavit sworn by FWS Special Agent Kevin Seiler, the wood — upon export from India — was classified as "finished parts of musical instruments," which is permitted under Indian law. However, the exported wood was, in fact, a batch of 1,250 sawn logs, unfinished. This is a violation of Indian law and, therefore, a violation of the Lacey Act, according to the complaint.

"Because the description and ... code ... are fraudulent, the shipment paperwork as to the [wood] was deceptive, concealed the true nature of the import and fraudulently presented as a shipment that would be legal to export from India, even though it clearly was not a legally exported or imported shipment," Seiler testified.

Seiler traces the wood in question to Gibson's importer, Luthiers Mercantile, itself owned by German company Theodor Nagel GmbH, and back to India, claiming a series of false customs codes throughout shipment.

Later, Seiler uses Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz's Aug. 25 press conference as evidence he was aware that importing unfinished Indian wood was a violation of that country's laws and thus, by extension, the Lacey Act. That regulation prohibits the importation of certain types of lumber into the United States if the exportation of the wood violates the laws of the country of origin.

"[I]t is clear that Gibson understands the purpose of the Lacey Act, and understands that the Defendant Property, which is fingerboard blanks, are not finished fingerboards and thus Gibson is aware that its order for fingerboard blanks was an order for contraband ebony wood or ebony wood which is illegal to possess," Seiler wrote.

While the investigation into the Indian wood was unfolding, the U.S. Attorney requested a stay in the Malagay wood forfeiture case. With the filing of the newest complaint, the original seizure claim was dismissed with an eye to combine the two forfeiture claims.