Bay Area man gets prison for selling counterfeit electronics to U.S. military
An Alameda County man has been sentenced to federal prison after being convicted of selling counterfeit electronics to the Department of Defense that were intended to be used in military equipment, including a nuclear submarine, prosecutors said Thursday.
According to Northern District of California U.S. Attorney Ismael Ramsey's office, 63-year-old Steve H.S. Kim was sentenced to three years and six months in prison. Kim pleaded guilty in March to wire fraud and trafficking in counterfeit goods.
"Our military must be able to trust that the equipment it is receiving actually reflects what it has purchased," Ramsey said in a statement.
Court documents said Kim controlled a company that sold fan assemblies to the Defense Logistics Agency that were either counterfeit or were used or surplus fan assemblies that he claimed were new. Kim had sold $3.5 million worth of the equipment to the agency.
According to prosecutors, Kim tricked the DLA by creating counterfeit labels, some of which used another company's registered trademarks. When the DLA questioned Kim, he gave fake tracing documents that were often signed using a false identity.
The counterfeit fans were installed or planned to be installed with electrical components on a nuclear submarine, an aircraft's laser system and a surface-to-air missile system.
"Kim fraudulently substituted counterfeit and non-conforming products for the equipment he promised to provide to the government. This sentence should serve as a warning to all vendors that such fraud will not be tolerated," Ramsey went on to say.