Seller of counterfeit networking equipment convicted and denaturalized, sentenced to 5 years

[Jackolantern]

In addition to the prison time, Judge Gerald Bruce Lee of U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia also ordered Chun-Yu Zhao, 43, of Chantilly, Virginia, to pay US$2.7 million restitution and a $17,500 fine.

Lee also stripped Zhao, from China, of her U.S. citizenship and ordered her to forfeit four homes in Maryland and northern Virginia, three condominiums in Chantilly, a Porsche Boxster, a Porsche Cayenne, a Mercedes sedan and seven bank accounts containing more than $1.6 million.

...

In May, a jury convicted Zhao of 16 felony counts, including conspiracy to commit importation fraud and to deal in counterfeit goods, importation fraud, dealing in counterfeit goods, obtaining citizenship by fraud, making false statements to law enforcement and money laundering.

Full story at http://www.techworld.com.au/article/400379/woman_sentenced_selling_counterfeit_cisco_equipment/
An earlier article, after the conviction but before the sentence was decided: http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae/news/2011/05/20110526zhaonr.html

 

[König]

Bruce Lee, the judge

 

[sanjoseaug20]

Any details on "obtaining citizenship by fraud" ... not much detail there. To me it seems that was a minor issue, and the prosecution was just trying to throw as much muck as will stick, and denaturalization was one of them. And they got it all.

 

[König]

Any details on "obtaining citizenship by fraud" ... not much detail there. To me it seems that was a minor issue

Can you elaborate further? She was involved in serious felony crimes before or during the citizenship process. This case is a very good example of when Q15 ("Have you ever committed a crime or offence for which you were not arrested?") can be used post factum to de-naturalise a citizen. I can hardly believe she started this counterfeiting business only after she became a USC.

 

[Jackolantern]

When it comes to electronic goods made in China, the counterfeits are often physically the real thing, although not legally. It's often easier and cheaper to just buy up excess inventory from the factories that make the genuine goods than to try to hack up something fake that looks and works like the real thing. That's probably what she was doing, given that she was in business long enough and large enough to make millions of dollars for herself. This is a predictable consequence of outsourcing to countries where cheap labor and gaps in their legal system make this easy and common.

 

[König]

When it comes to electronic goods made in China, the counterfeits are often physically the real thing, although not legally. It's often easier and cheaper to just buy up excess inventory from the factories that make the genuine goods than to try to hack up something fake that looks and works like the real thing.

Exactly. That is what happened with fake Apple stores in China - they sold real stuff produced (unofficially) by real Apple factories.