Man convicted off selling counterfeit batteries & electronics

Thought this would interest the forum, from todays Boston Herald

BOSTON — An Andover man has pleaded guilty to federal charges of selling thousands of counterfeit electronic items out of his home using eBay and his own website.

Ahmad Raad pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to trafficking in counterfeit goods and mail fraud.

Federal prosecutors say the 55-year-old Raad purchased electronic products from China, including batteries, chargers and memory sticks, that the bore the brand names of reputable companies, including Sony and Olympus. The products were either not made by those companies or by companies authorized to use the brand names and logos.

In some cases, prosecutors say, Raad bought unmarked items and attached logos from legitimate companies to them before selling them.

He faces up to 20 years in prison at sentencing scheduled for Feb. 14.

1 down 3 million to go ?

That’s one less we have to worry about if they enforce the law.

likely make quite a few of the others, that are shipping from the states, reconsider…

Gotta start somewhere. It won’t stop the Chinese, but maybe a few disreputable American sellers will take notice.

They should knock half off of his sentence, allowing instead each and every burned customer to give him one good kick to the groin.

The fear of popped grapes may act as a stronger deterrent than incarceration for some.

Cynical me thinks this guy was taken down so somebody’s political donor could take his customers.

I’m glad he’s been caught. Pity it’s only him though.

There’s no way he’ll get anywhere close to 20 years. Probably a few at the most.

Should have moved to China and sold from there !

Hmmmm , so if you buy from China ???? are you receiving counterfeit goods ? [ as in receiving stolen goods ]

pretty much. i bet he will see 1 year, with probation.

Even just in the US there’s no fully accounting for 50 states worth of laws…

Generally no. They aren’t stolen goods. This goes back to intellectual property laws. Trademarks are being violated and in some cases patents. That leads to different handling under the law than if the guy broke into the warehouse and took genuine articles.

I’m not a lawyer or police officer (although I did grow up with a Patent Attorney for a parent). I could be spouting utter BS. As always CYA (consult your attorney).

Happens with cameras too…

I hope they hang Tmart next, Hangfeng Wu (718) 680-0976 – 726 64th St. Brooklyn, NY 11220-4714

Tmart, Hangfeng Wu (718) 680-0976

http://www.whitepages.com/name/Hangfeng-Wu/North-Brunswick-NJ/837kuga

The power of internet search

He was not convicted of selling garbage, he was convicted of selling garbage with fake brand names on them. If he had sold ultrafire batteries and similar looking but off brand name junk it looks like he would not have been charged (its the branding that got him arrested)