Counterfeit Cisco Smuggler Convicted
Print
Zhao Chun-Yu obviously never heard that crime doesn't pay, or if she did, she wasn't the type to let a boring old cliché boss her around. She definitely didn't hear it from her mother. Chun-Yu and her family ran a massive Hong Kong-based counterfeit networking business called Han Tong Technology. Chun-Yu and her morally lenient relatives used false names and documents to help import the pirated hardware into the US, then created fake packaging materials to make them look like authentic Cisco products. They raked in millions of dollars worth of sales.
Then the Justice Department slammed the brakes on the joyride.
Earlier this week, a jury in Alexandria, Virginia convicted Chun-Yu on 16 different counts of all types of lengthy jail term-inducing crimes, including conspiracy, money laundering, importation fraud, trafficking in counterfeit goods and bald-faced lying to law enforcement. They also ordered her to fork over "two Porsches, one Mercedes, seven bank accounts containing more than $1.6 million, and four homes and three condominiums with a total value of more than $2.6 million," according to the Justice Department's press release.
Chun-Yu is due to be sentenced in August, and if she gets the proverbial book tossed at her, she faces millions of dollars in fines and over a hundred years in prison. One of her accomplices, Donald Cone of Maryland, was also convicted.
More like this
13
Comments
Comments are closed on this article
wirehedd
May 28, 2011 at 11:29am
she's facing a 100 year sentence yet some rapist or murderer can be sentended to 15-20 years and be out on parole in 5 due to overcrowding.
How disgusting can things get when corporations wield so much power over the judicary as to have sentences like that handed down for property crimes, or pot smokers for that matter, because the value of a companies' interests are given a higher priority than human life?
The scarier fact is that if it was a white, male American Wall Street insider who had done this he would be given probation and a fine and he would be able to scamper off and do it all again with the benefit of knowing better how not to get caught.
People who think this is appropriate are either mentally sick or just plain greedy filth.
Mind you, Bernie Madof was made an example of too but he was guilty of bilking and scamming his fellow bankers and they didn't like being made fools of. If he had just stolen money from regular folks he would be getting out in 10 and moving to the Mediteranean with his remaining ill gotten gains.
jedisamurai
May 28, 2011 at 6:46am
Man you could write a book about this stuff.
The Chinese actually have the technology to compete on a purely technical level, they just don't because the markup on goods from the factory in China to the American buyer is so enormous that a fortune can be made simply by making the same items and passing them off as high-priced.
Sometimes counterfeit products are indeed as good as or better than originals, but other times they are inferior or even dangerous to use (:depends on the pride of the person who made them :).
Criminal sentences on ACTUAL pirates (not kids or little old ladies) have been too soft for ages, but usually it's the AMERICAN branch of the organization that gets the worst sentences(the Chinese government wouldn't want to go after enterprising people raking money into their country just because their activities are a little illicit now would they?). If you don't believe me just check out the article that Wired featured years back on "the pirate king". He was an American living in China who had an empire called "2 dollar DVD". The Chinese made an example out of him as a warning to any Americans who got bright ideas about working with enterprising Chinese pirates.
And lastly, this is the the new "winner take all" "global economy" where the rich set the prices and the poor get nothing. High prices and poor quality is the way of the world. Best get used to it.
schwit
May 27, 2011 at 7:26pm
Did they counterfeit SmartNet? That's where Cisco makes its money. You can negotiate hard on hardware prices, but not SmartNet. Try Juniper if you need Toyota quality without the Lexus pricing.
I agree there consumer stuff sucks.
kalamity116
May 27, 2011 at 6:32pm
Hopefully this makes an impression on anyone else who might be thinking of counterfeiting US technology. I'm not at all concerned about Cisco overpricing their stuff--let them go out of business and let another LEGITIMATE enterprise take its place--that's what capitalism is and it works. What I am pissed off about is people (particularly foreigns) counterfeiting our stuff and using it to fill their coffers. A lot of that money then finds its way back to their country of origin. That's BS, no matter which way you spin it.
As for the actual specifics of the sentence, I expect her lawyer will mellow down the sentance for her though...we've proven time and again that you can buy yourself out of any sentence in this country if you have enough money...
ShyLinuxGuy
May 27, 2011 at 1:29pm
She's facing 100 years in prison? For passing off fake Cisco hardware? Sheesh...I don't know much about the enterprise hardware (yet), but I do know the consumer hardware absolutely sucks and the counterfeits were probably better than the real thing.
10-15 years is more appropriate.
praetor_alpha
May 27, 2011 at 1:42pm
The enterprise software and hardware business is just a big swindle anyway.
You expect me to pay for your software, then again to fix it? WTF?
Holly Golightly
May 27, 2011 at 12:17pm
Well, Cisco should not have priced themselves out of the market.
I think her sentencing was a little too extreme. 100 year sentence? Wow. If I were China, I would defend my citizens. I would allow the family to keep all of the stuff, testifying USA orders. Sometimes I wonder just how petty USA is sometimes. I am sorry...
Eagle70ss
May 27, 2011 at 6:48pm
They're only "facing" a 100 year sentence. She hasn't been sentenced to anything yet. Chances are she won't actually get sentenced to near that much time. Even if they do get a 100 year sentence, hardly anyone ends up serving the full sentence.
JlzMT
May 27, 2011 at 12:27pm
Millions of dollars worth of counterfeit sales hardly constitutes petty crime. This one's gonna pay and I'm glad to know they're gonna stick it to her.
Holly Golightly
May 27, 2011 at 2:22pm
I feel that a 100 year sentencing is hard. Not even convicted murders get that much jail time... I think 20 years is more doable. Her lawyer should take this to an appeals court. It is just hardware. Who cares about what Cisco loses? This lady was offering a much more affordable solution to businesses. I do not think they really care what brand it is. Fact is, the old capitalist judges need to relax on the whole sentencing things over people who offer better solutions at a more affordable price. I hope they do appeal the case.
JlzMT
June 07, 2011 at 1:06pm
I agree an actual 100 year prison term is extreme, but I strongly dissagree with allowing them to keep the money.
Taking back their ill-gotten money, and associated luxuries should be the first thing done to correct this sort of wrong-doing.
Sentencing in a case like this needs to be significant in order to discourage anyone else thinking about taking similar actions.
If you don't care that a company (Cisco) and by extension its employees lose money due to massive theft [and that's exactly what this is], that's your choice.
Those who paid these two, thinking they were getting genuine Cisco products/services, only to end up with what is presumably inferior hardware, most likely care a lot.
Holly Golightly
June 07, 2011 at 10:34pm
You are right... But those customers should have known something was up. Often, if something is too cheap... There must be something wrong with it. Big businesses should always seek credible merchants. If they are going for the cheapest price, one would think they really never cared about quality, and that it gets its job done... Which those pretty much fit the bill.
Connect with MaximumPC
Featured Content
The gang discusses the GTX 690, Trinity, Ivy Bridge, Amazon, big-box stores, MMOs,...
This month's issue
Feature
Build a PC On Any Budget
Feature
Cloud Services Showdown
How-To
Encrypt Your External Drive
Build It
Upgrade an X58 Rig
Most Commented Articles
Latest Max PC Tweets
- maximumpc: Original RickRoll Video Returns to YouTube After 24-Hour Copyright Hiatus http://t.co/MaH9Sxyy1 day 7 hours ago
- maximumpc: Corsair has decided not to go forward with its $78 million IPO, citing weak equity market conditions http://t.co/A5a4DAzj1 day 7 hours ago
- maximumpc: Want to work at Maximum PC? Our Online Managing Editor, Alex, is moving away, so we need a new one. http://t.co/9Z7JCh0E3 days 5 hours ago
