Daily Casefile · Audit

The Overstated Cargo

≈ 4 min

The merchant firm Hargrove & Cullum has filed a customs declaration for goods imported aboard the schooner Resolute, arrived at Charleston on 14 June 1887. The declaration lists six categories of dutiable goods, with quantities and values as presented to the Customs Collector. A routine cross-check against the ship's manifest, survey records, and other official documents has been ordered after a dockworker reported that the unloaded cargo appeared lighter than declared. The Collector requests an auditor determine whether any line of the declaration contradicts the available records.