Xianfeng Zuo, Counterfeit Computer Chips Trafficking, Connecticut 2016

Grimy Times has learned that Xianfeng Zuo, a 38-year-old citizen of China, has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for conspiring to sell counterfeits of sophisticated integrated circuits to a purchaser in the United States.

According to court documents, Zuo, Jiang Yan, and Daofu Zhang each operated businesses in China that bought and sold electronic components, including integrated circuits. In the summer of 2015, Zuo asked Yan to locate and purchase several advanced ICs made by Xilinx Corp., which had military applications, including radiation tolerance for uses in space.

In November 2015, Zhang shipped from China to a U.S. individual, two packages containing a total of eight counterfeit ICs, each bearing a counterfeit Xilinx brand label. The counterfeit chips were worth tens of thousands of dollars.

The three conspirators flew together from China to the U.S. in early December 2015 to complete the Xilinx ICs purchase. On December 10, 2015, they planned to meet the U.S. individual, make payment, and take custody of the Xilinx ICs in Milford, Connecticut. Federal agents arrested all three at the meeting location.

As part of his sentence, Zuo was ordered to forfeit $63,000 in cash seized incident to his arrest. Zuo has been detained since his arrest. On March 16, 2016, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods.

This case is a stark reminder of the ongoing threat of counterfeit goods in the global supply chain. The matter was investigated by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Commerce, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Henry Kopel and U.S. Department of Justice Counterintelligence and Export Control Section Trial Attorneys Casey Arrowood and Thea Kendler.

Xianfeng Zuo, a Chinese national, was sentenced to 15 months in prison for conspiring to sell counterfeits of sophisticated integrated circuits to a purchaser in the United States. He was ordered to forfeit $63,000 in cash seized incident to his arrest.

The sentencing took place on an exact date.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ct/pr/citizen-china-sentenced-15-months-prison-trafficking-counterfeit-computer-chips-0