Smuggler Sentenced to Three Years in Prison
06 September 2012
Eng Cheng Kee, one of three men arrested in the US territory of Guam in 2010 on charges of smuggling counterfeit goods from Asia to the US mainland, has been sentenced to 37 months in prison in the United States District Court of Guam.
Kee, of Malaysia, was sentenced after he confessed to conspiracy to defraud the United States and trafficking in counterfeit goods. He was also ordered to pay US$950,000 in restitution to victimized brand owners.
In April 2012, co-defendent Hexing Yang, a Chinese national, pled guilty to smuggling more than US$1 million into the US from Malaysia and China and was also sentenced to 37 months in prison, as well as ordered to pay restitution of US$475,000 to Coach and US$475,000 to Nike.
According to court documents, the defendants trafficked and attempted to traffic counterfeit goods as early as 2008, including about 120,000 pairs of counterfeit Nike shoes and 500,000 fake Coach handbags, which they attempted to bring into the US through an “undercover business” in the state of Maryland. At least one of their meetings took place on Guam, which is located in the western Pacific Ocean roughly midway between Japan and Australia.
Kee’s Guam attorney Stephanie Flores told the Sorenson Media Group’s Pacific News Center that the case has little to do with Guam, other than that “one meeting” was held on the island.
Kee, Yang and alleged co-conspirator Wai Hong Yong remain in custody on the Guam.
The conspiracy is alleged to have begun in March of 2008 and continued through March of 2010. Nine smugglers were arrested in the US, and another six were reportedly arrested in a relatedsting operation in London.
