Gibson’s CEO and chairman, Henry Juszkiewicz, has also served on the board of the Rainforest Alliance for over 15 years. He has now stepped down from that post after Wednesday’s federal raid of Gibson’s Nashville facility.
From the Tennessean…
After the federal search, Juszkiewicz called the alliance and offered to take a leave of absence “to avoid conflict or distraction,” said President Tensie Whelan. “It’s very difficult to know what’s happening at this point,” Whelan added. “Our hope indeed is there will be no violations of the Lacey Act.”
Ms. Whelan seems to be taking a rather tentative stance which is understandable. From the Rainforest Alliance website…
A significant part of our work focuses on certification and verification services, which enable us to:
* Provide farmers, foresters and tourism entrepreneurs with guidelines on how to improve their practices
* Hold companies accountable
* Enable consumers to make informed choices
Strange story from the Nashville Post…
Federal agents from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and local police today seized wood, guitars, computers and boxes of files from Gibson Guitar’s Massman Road manufacturing facility.
Sources say the Nashville-based guitar manufacturer is being investigated for violating the Lacey Act, a key piece of environmental law, for importing endangered species of rosewood from Madagascar…
…Sources tell NashvillePost.com Gibson was involved in a scheme that shipped the wood from Madagascar to Germany and then to the United States.
Not good for Gibson if the “sources” are on the money… an international rosewood smuggling ring.
Contraband?
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