Chinese Man Shipped Counterfeit Computer Networking Parts Into Texas, DOJ Says
A Chinese man based in the U.S. was sentenced to 54 months in prison after he helped ship counterfeit computer networking parts into Texas, the Department of Justice announced Feb. 15. The man, 40-year-old Ruiyang Li, who the DOJ said…
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is not a U.S. citizen, used counterfeit trademarks of Cisco, Hewlett-Packard and Intel, according to a press release. Because counterfeit products are not subject to manufacturing requirements, the networking parts may present safety risks to whoever uses or relies on them, the DOJ said. Li sold the parts for about 10 years before being caught in 2017, according to the release. "Over this time period, Li sold counterfeit networking products through several business entities, often hiding behind layers of personal and corporate aliases to evade detection by law enforcement," the DOJ said. "Li also used various means to conceal his unlawful conduct, including by sending and receiving payments using accounts that did not appear connected, at least publicly, to companies trafficking in illicit products. Li and his customers would also agree to mislabel packages, break up shipments into separate components, alter destination addresses and use multiple forwarding companies based in the United States. These methods, in Li’s mind, made shipping counterfeit parts 'safer,' which in practice meant delaying or complicating detection by U.S. authorities."