Chinese cell phone part counterfeiter pleads guilty

Phil Taylor, 20-May-2016

A Chinese national is facing up to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to selling more than $1m-worth of counterfeit Apple and Samsung cell phone parts.

Hongwei 'Nick' Du (33) of Shenzhen, China, supplied the fake parts to a Calexico-based online business Flexqueen.com in a scheme uncovered during a multiyear probe spearheaded by US enforcement agencies.

Du admitted to conspiring with two El Centro residents to traffic counterfeit goods and money laundering, and admitted he coordinated the shipments of the Chinese-made counterfeit products in a manner designed to prevent customs officers from detecting them.

In addition to prison time, Du faces a maximum fine of up to $750,000. He has also agreed to forfeit the $1.5m he derived from the scheme.

Du was arrested on February 3 at the Imperial Valley airport along with the two co-conspirators, Octavio Cesar Sana (42) and Angela Rose Vela (36) after undercover investigators lured him to the US to coordinate the purchase of counterfeit goods.

Du arrived for the meeting with samples of counterfeit iPhone components, according to the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) division of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation.

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Phil Taylor

20-May-2016

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Building a new brand is one of the most exciting things any business can do, but all too often that hard work will be undermined by bad actors who will try to cash in on that hard work. Sadly, most companies will experience a problem with counterfeits at some point and, for smaller firms, it can affect their ability to survive.

Here at SecuringIndustry.com, we are always ready to hear about the problems fakes pose to brand owners and are especially interested in the ways businesses rise to the challenge.

If you can share your experiences, do let us know at newsdesk@securingindustry.com.

Do you have an important story about counterfeiting to tell?

Building a new brand is one of the most exciting things any business can do, but all too often that hard work will be undermined by bad actors who will try to cash in on that hard work. Sadly, most companies will experience a problem with counterfeits at some point and, for smaller firms, it can affect their ability to survive.

Here at SecuringIndustry.com, we are always ready to hear about the problems fakes pose to brand owners and are especially interested in the ways businesses rise to the challenge.

If you can share your experiences, do let us know at newsdesk@securingindustry.com.

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Chinese cell phone part counterfeiter pleads guilty

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Do you have an important story about counterfeiting to tell?

Here at SecuringIndustry.com, we are always ready to hear about the problems fakes pose to brand owners and are especially interested in the ways businesses rise to the challenge.

If you can share your experiences, do let us know at newsdesk@securingindustry.com.

Sponsored Content

Do you have an important story about counterfeiting to tell?

Here at SecuringIndustry.com, we are always ready to hear about the problems fakes pose to brand owners and are especially interested in the ways businesses rise to the challenge.

If you can share your experiences, do let us know at newsdesk@securingindustry.com.

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