Las Vegas business owner gets prison time for counterfeit electronics scheme

LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — A Las Vegas business owner was sentenced to six months in prison this week for importing nearly $1.5 million in counterfeit electronics from China, according to federal prosecutors.

Saad Ahmed, the owner of PhonePartsUSA, pleaded guilty to bringing in counterfeit cell phone parts and accessories, said the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of California.

Prosecutors argued that Ahmed had been importing phony merchandise for his business since at least September 2012, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

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The electronics bore trademarks from companies like Samsung and Apple, but they were actually copies and customers filed complaints about the parts they bought.

Prosecutors also say Ahmed undervalued the imports so U.S. customs officials wouldn't notice them and told his staff to destroy the invoices once shipments arrived.

Ahmed has agreed to pay restitution of nearly $270,000, which prosecutors described as the profits his business made from counterfeit goods.

"Counterfeit merchandise is a threat to consumers, to legitimate producers, and to the entire economy," U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer said in a press release. "The public is entitled to trust that a trademark means a product is authentic, and not that an unscrupulous merchant is trying to make a quick buck at their expense. Counterfeit goods are not easy money. They are a crime."