Nation : Customs Fines Bush Ex-Aide $648 in Failure to Declare Furs

Jennifer Fitzgerald, deputy chief of U.S. protocol and a former aide to George Bush, was fined $648 by the Customs Service for failing to declare the true value of two fur coats from Argentina, officials said today.

Anita Stockman, a spokeswoman for the State Department, said the investigation of the case is ongoing.

Stockman confirmed that the investigation began in January after an anonymous tip was received on the “hot line” of the department’s inspector general. The caller said that Fitzgerald, traveling on a U.S. government aircraft, had failed to declare some items when she returned to Andrews Air Force Base from South America.

Ed Kittredge, a spokesman for the U.S. Customs Service, said Fitzgerald was summoned to the Office of the Special Agent in Baltimore on March 23, where she was assessed $648 under the Custom Fraud Statute. He said the case was handled as a civil matter, not as a criminal case.

According to the Customs Service, Fitzgerald, who had traveled to Argentina as part of an official U.S. delegation, returned with a raincoat purchased abroad, which she declared to be worth $300. She did not mention in the customs declaration that the coat was lined with nutria fur. The customs agent appraised the coat at $1,100, and Fitzgerald was asked to pay a penalty of $440.

For a fur cape worth $1,300 that she failed to disclose altogether, Fitzgerald was assessed $208.