CEO Onur Aksoy of a group controlling various online stores received a six and a half-year prison sentence for selling $100 million in counterfeit Cisco network equipment. Arrested in Miami in June 2022, Aksoy faced charges of trafficking counterfeit goods and mail and wire fraud. He pleaded guilty in June 2023 to operating the operation through 19 companies and 25 eBay and Amazon storefronts, collectively known as Pro Network Entities. Aksoy imported modified low-quality networking devices from Chinese counterfeiters, selling them as genuine Cisco products.
Counterfeit Cisco products, falsely labeled as new and genuine, were sold to customers worldwide, including government agencies and the military. Despite being older models, the devices were modified to resemble newer, more expensive Cisco products. These devices often experienced performance, functionality, and safety issues, causing disruptions in customer operations and networks. Between 2014 and 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection intercepted 180 shipments of counterfeit Cisco devices destined for Pro Network Entities.
Aksoy used fake aliases and addresses to evade authorities and minimize scrutiny after shipments were seized. Despite warnings from Cisco to cease trafficking counterfeit goods, Aksoy continued his illegal activities. In July 2021, a search warrant at Aksoy’s warehouse led to the seizure of over 1,000 counterfeit Cisco devices valued at over $7 million. Aksoy was sentenced to six and a half years in prison and ordered to pay $100 million in restitution to Cisco, along with the destruction of seized counterfeit products.
