Operation targeting counterfeit network hardware from China yield convictions, seizures

Property Rights Coordination Center. The agencies involved say that through aggressive investigation and prosecution, the initiative seeks to protect computer networks and the U.S. IT infrastructure from failures associated with counterfeit network hardware, including network routers, switches, network cards, and devices that protect firewalls and secure communications that have been intercepted both domestically and abroad.

Last week, as a part of this joint initiative, Ehab Ashoor, 49, a Saudi Citizen who resides in Sugarland, Texas, was sentenced in the Southern District of Texas to 51 months in prison and ordered to pay $119,400 in restitution to Cisco Systems. A federal jury found Ashoor guilty on 22 January 2010 of charges related to his trafficking in counterfeit Cisco products. According to evidence presented at trial, Ashoor purchased counterfeit Cisco Gigabit Interface Converters (GBICs) from an online vendor in China with the intention of selling them to the U.S. Department of Defense for use by U.S. Marine Corps personnel operating in Iraq. The computer network for which the GBICs were intended is used by the U.S. Marine Corps to transmit troop movements, relay intelligence, and maintain security for a military base west of Fallujah, Iraq. The case was investigated by ICE and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.

On 25 January 2010, in the Central District of California, Yongcai Li, 33, a resident of China, was sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay $790,683 in restitution to Cisco Systems Inc., as a result of his conviction for trafficking in counterfeit Cisco computer products. Li carried out the scheme while doing business as Gaoyi Tech, a company located in Shenzhen, China. Li procured counterfeit Cisco products in China in response to orders and then shipped the products to the United States. Li was arrested by FBI agents in January 2009 while visiting Las Vegas and was prosecuted in Los Angeles. This case was investigated by FBI and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.

“Trafficking in counterfeit computer components is a problem that spans the globe and impacts most, if not all, major network equipment manufacturers. As this operation demonstrates, sustained cooperation between law enforcement and the private sector is often a critical factor in disrupting and dismantling criminal organizations that threaten our economy and endanger public safety,” said Assistant Attorney