Onur Aksoy, a 39-year-old resident of Florida, has admitted to running a scheme where he imported and sold counterfeit Cisco networking equipment to various organizations, including education, government agencies, healthcare, and the military.
Aksoy operated through 19 companies formed in New Jersey and Florida, as well as online storefronts collectively known as ‘Pro Network Entities.’ The Department of Justice filed a criminal complaint against him, accusing him of conducting the counterfeit operation between 2014 and 2022, resulting in over $100 million in profits.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Aksoy pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey, acknowledging that he defrauded numerous people and companies by selling them low-quality equipment disguised as new Cisco models. The counterfeit scheme involved importing old, used, or low-grade network equipment from China and Hong Kong, modifying them to appear as genuine Cisco devices.
To evade authorities, Aksoy used fake aliases and a mock delivery address in Ohio, while Chinese vendors were instructed to send the products in smaller packages and on different days to reduce the likelihood of inspections.
The counterfeit devices were made to look legitimate with the addition of Cisco labels, stickers, sealed boxes, documentation, and packaging from the American tech giant. However, buyers experienced performance, functionality, and security issues, leading many to seek support from Cisco.
The company sent seven cease and desist letters to Aksoy between 2014 and 2019. In July 2021, law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at Aksoy’s warehouse and confiscated over a thousand fake Cisco devices worth over $7 million.
Scheduled for sentencing on November 6, 2023, Aksoy faces a maximum penalty of 6.5 years in prison and must forfeit $15 million, which will be used as restitution for the victims.
The U.S. Department of Justice has published a list of the ‘Pro Network Entities’ companies and eBay and Amazon storefronts that sold counterfeit equipment, urging individuals or businesses who purchased products from these sources to follow the instructions provided on a dedicated page, including sending a questionnaire to a Homeland Security email address.
