Tech CEO Gets Over 6 Years for Counterfeit Cisco Scheme

A Miami-based tech CEO Onur Aksoy has been sentenced to 6 years in prison for selling fake Cisco equipment to the US military. He pleaded guilty in June 2023 on the charges of conspiracy, fraud, and wire fraud. According to the sources, Aksoy ran a scheme through 19 companies and online stores collectively known as Pro Network Entities. 

He sold fake Cisco networking equipment through these storefronts on Amazon and eBay. The counterfeit products were estimated to have a retail value of over $1 billion. Worryingly, some of the fake equipment ended up in critical infrastructure, including sensitive US government systems used by the military.

Aksoy pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to prison time. He was also ordered to pay Cisco $100 million in restitution.

Sentence: A Strong Message

US attorney Vikas Khanna emphasized the scope of the operation and the possible harm. He said that Aksoy was held responsible for the "breathtaking scale" of the counterfeit operation by the sentence.

Supply chain disruptions are alleged to have presented Cisco with difficulties recently, increasing its susceptibility to counterfeit activity.

Fraud Was Detected In 2014

It is worth noting that the fraudulent activity was detected by the authorities of the United States and Cisco in 2014. Soon after this, the counterfeit shipments were seized and the CEO was asked to cease the operations. The sources claim that the suppliers used to modify and discard Cisco products to appear legitimate and install pirated software.