In 2012, American officials had already begun investigations against one of the Chinese citizens, Jiang Guanghou Yan. They sought evidence that the man was involved in the illegal trade with counterfeit military-purpose semiconductors.
At the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015, Yan sold some counterfeit Intel microprocessors to an undercover agent who claimed to be purchasing them for use with U.S. Navy submarines. In July 2015, it was finally possible to collect decisive evidence against the counterfeiter. When Yan was searching for original semiconductors from the manufacturer Xilinx, the investigator offered to steal the desired products from a Navy base for him. In order to cover up the theft, the Chinese counterfeiter provided the undercover agent with imitations of the original products.
As Yan travelled into the US in December with his two partners to pick up the original military components, the American authorities struck and arrested the men. The Department of Justice announced afterwards that the counterfeits supplied by Yan to cover up the theft were entirely non-functioning hardware that only imitated the original components in appearance. The alleged counterfeiters will not only be prosecuted for piracy, but also according to the American “International Emergency Economic Powers Act,” which allows a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and 1 million US dollars.
“The Justice Department and our federal law enforcement partners are committed to prosecuting those who would supply our armed forces with counterfeit electronic components, as well as those who attempt to steal sophisticated U.S. military components and distribute them to places unknown,” stated U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly. Officers of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the U.S. Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations were all involved in the investigations.
