Man sold fake Cisco devices worth $1 billion, ran 19 companies to list products on Amazon, eBay

New Delhi: A man who controlled 19 businesses, at least 15 Amazon stores, 10 eBay storefronts, and numerous other entities that marketed fake Cisco networking products worth $1 billion has been charged by a US court. Onur Aksoy, aka Ron Aksoy, aka Dave Durden, 38, of Miami, was accused by a federal grand jury in the District of New Jersey of orchestrating a vast enterprise over several years to traffic in fake and counterfeit Cisco networking equipment with an estimated retail value of over $1 billion, according to a report by IANS. 

The US Department of Justice said in a statement late on Friday that the man imported tens of thousands of counterfeit Cisco devices from China and Hong Kong and resold them to clients in the US and abroad while misrepresenting the products as brand-new and authentic.

According to reports, the scheme brought in over $100 million, and Aksoy pocketed millions of dollars for personal gain. The devices were often older, lower-model items, some of which had been sold or discarded, that Chinese counterfeiters subsequently altered to resemble authentic variants of newer, improved, and more expensive Cisco gear, claims the indictment. 

The Chinese counterfeiters included unauthorised, inferior, or unstable components, as well as components to get around technological safeguards Cisco applied to the software to verify hardware authenticity and check for software licencing compliance.

The Chinese counterfeiters allegedly also attached fake Cisco labels, stickers, boxes, documentation, packing, and other items to the devices to make them seem brand new, authentic, high-quality, and factory-sealed by Cisco, according to the Justice Department.

Aksoy is accused of three charges of mail fraud, four counts of wire fraud, three counts of trafficking in counterfeit goods, and one count of conspiring to traffic in counterfeit goods and commit mail and wire fraud.