News & Analysis
Three charged with selling counterfeit ICs
Dylan McGrath
10/12/2009 5:20 PM EDT
An 11-count indictment unsealed Oct. 8 also charges a Newport Coast, Calif. woman, as well as her husband and her brother, with conspiracy and mail fraud, according the U.S. Attorney.
According to the indictment, the defendants acquired counterfeit ICs from sources in China, imported them into the U.S. and sold them via the Internet. They also bought trademark-branded devices and altered them to make it appear that they were of a certain brand, newer, higher quality, or were of military grade, according to the indictment.
The defendants entered into three separate contracts with the U.S. Navy between March and July, according to the indictment, and subsequently shipped counterfeit devices bearing false trademarks, the indictment alleges. It also alleges that the defendants imported more than $140,000 worth of counterfeit ICs from China and Hong Kong in 22 separate incidents.
The defendants operated a number of companies and websites, according to the indictment.
The defendants—Mustafa Abdul Aljaff, his sister, Marwah Felahy and her husband, Neil Felahy—were arrainged in District Court in California and will later appear in District Court in Washington, where the case was indicted, according to the U.S. Attorney.
If convicted, the defendants could face prison terms and more than $5 million in fines, according to the U.S. Attorney.
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) Monday (Oct. 12) issued a statement applauding the U.S. Attorney's Office for the arrests.
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TechBuffESully
10/13/2009 3:26 PM EDT
Since when does the Navy buy mil-grade parts from a group of people with an Internet site?
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LannyNugen
10/13/2009 3:48 PM EDT
It's long story but basically the arm forces are broke and many parts are obsolete and hard to find. The military operates much different than the commercial sector so they just can't dump the old system for a new system as you do with your mobile phone and MP3. They have little money for many things so they have to make use of what they have and have independent labs to screen the parts for them. I work as an engineer of one of very few low cost independent labs who can do sophisticated testing MW & RF components so I know the sad story of our military budget. No one know how to solve the problem as it's right now. COTS doesn't solve the rapid obsolescence of electronic components in military equipments.
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NorthshorePhil
10/13/2009 5:05 PM EDT
SOOO glad these tools are finally going down.
bye bye mustafa!!!
As for where the Navy buys...as with most, it's where the buyer finds parts. However the NAVY and/OEM should be buying from a supplier they have audited, visited and one that has CERTIFICATION of some sort. Did the buyer even ask about ISO? IDEA? anything?
All indepenants see the same supplies in the market, it's how we inspect and authenticate that differs.
Mustafa and family were just scammers Some buyer wasnt concerned with where the parts came from jsut wanted the rfq off the desk.
Glad they caught it and it didnt make it in.
ONLY buy from a TRUSTED source, that has memberships, certifications, test equipt on site, ect.
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clay_cowgill
10/13/2009 5:54 PM EDT
I used to sell old RAMs for use in repairing 1970-80's era video games. A few years back I had a military sub-con contract me in order to buy all of a particular Micron DRAM (a 16Kx1) that I had. They were reclaiming the die and repackaging them in mil-spec flatpacks for use in a missile system. They were very particular-- wanting an exact part number, date code, lot code, and package. Somewhere, some insurgent type probably got blown up by parts out of an old Robotron game...
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