|
January 6, 2004
The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California announced that Lay Eng Teo, 30, of Singapore, pleaded guilty on January 5, 2004, in federal court in San Jose to one count of conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, and one count of money laundering conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h).
Ms. Teo admitted that she conspired with others to import and sell counterfeit Microsoft Corporation software from Asia to the United States. She then arranged for the purchasers wire-transfer the funds representing the proceeds of the sales from the United States to various locations in Asia, notably Singapore.
The defendant was arrested in Hong Kong on October 24, 2000, and was detained in custody there while she contested extradition to the United States. The High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region denied the defendant's habeas corpus application and upheld a magistrate's ruling ordering her extradition to the United States. Ms. Teo was produced in United States District Court for arraignment on June 16, 2003.
Kevin V. Ryan, United States Attorney for the Northern District of California, stated: "This case signifies the Northern District of California's commitment to bring criminal charges against major suppliers of counterfeit software. It also should serve as an example to individuals abroad who violate this country's intellectual property laws that the Department of Justice will vigorously seek their extradition to the United States."
The maximum statutory penalty for the violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 is five years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. The maximum statutory penalty for the count in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1956(h) is 20 years imprisonment and a fine of $500,000. The United States and the defendant have agreed that the sentence imposed in this case is to be 46 months imprisonment. A pre-sentence report is being prepared for U.S. District Court Judge James Ware, who must approve the plea agreement before imposing sentence. Ms. Teo's sentencing is scheduled for March 22, 2004, at 1:30 p.m.
The prosecution is the result of an investigation by agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The investigation was overseen by the Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (CHIP) Unit of the U.S. Attorney's Office. Matt Parrella is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case. Microsoft Corp. cooperated with ICE in the investigation.
A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney's Office's website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can. Related court documents and information may be found on the District Court website at www.cand.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.cand.uscourts/gov.
All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney's Office should be directed to Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Jacobs at (415) 436-7181.
|
