The U.S. government has withdrawn one of the claims in its U.S. Federal District Court case against fishing company Sanford, which is accused of illegal discharges and obstruction of justice related to a vessel operating out of American Samoa.
The U.S. has withdrawn a forfeiture claim against Sanford of USD 24 million proceeds of catch covering the period of the allegations, Sanford said in a statement today.
The company said last month it will “vigorously defend” charges related to its vessel San Nikunau and retained New York-based law firm Chalos O’Connor LLP and Washington D.C-based Blank Rome LLP for the trial, which began on 30 July and was set to run for about two weeks.
Executives including managing director Eric Barratt were scheduled to give testimony in the Federal Court in Washington.
