Alameda man sells $3.5M in counterfeit electronics for military weapons systems
(KRON) – An Alameda man pleaded guilty to selling over $3.5 million worth of fan assemblies to the Department of Defense’s Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) that were either counterfeit or misrepresented to be new, U.S. Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey said on Wednesday.
According to prosecutors, some of these counterfeit fans were intended to be installed on electrical components of “a nuclear submarine, a laser system on an aircraft, and a surface-to-air missile system.”
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Steve H.S. Kim, 63, sold counterfeits to the DLA through a company selling fan assemblies Kim would claim as new. For each fan assembly kit he sold to the DLA, Kim created counterfeit labels that were used through the trademarks of a second, unaffiliated, distributor company.
When asked about the origin of the assemblies, Kim gave the DLA fake tracing documents that he created and often signed using a false identity, prosecutors said.
“Criminals who cheat the U.S. military by selling deficient or counterfeit goods put our national security at risk. This case demonstrates the Justice Department’s commitment to protecting the military supply chain and Americans’ security,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
On Wednesday, Kim pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of trafficking in counterfeit goods. U.S. District Attorney Judge Haywood Gilliam scheduled a hearing for Kim’s sentencing for July 17.
Kim faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the wire fraud count and ten years in prison on the trafficking in counterfeit goods count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
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