Boston - An Andover man was convicted today of selling thousands of counterfeit electronics out of his home using eBay and his own website.
Ahmad Raad, 55, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole to trafficking in counterfeit goods and mail fraud.
Between 2007 and 2011, Raad sold online a variety of electronic merchandise, including batteries, chargers and memory sticks, under the name “eMartCentral” using eBay or the website “www.emartcentral.com.” Raad purchased the merchandise that he sold directly from China. The merchandise bore a variety of brand names and trademarks, including those of Sony, SanDisk, Olympus, and Kingston. But much of this merchandise was not made by these companies or by companies authorized to use the companies’ names or marks. In some instances, Raad received merchandise from China that did not bear any product labels, and separately received sheets of Sony and SanDisk labels which he affixed to the merchandise and sold. During the four year period, Raad sold thousands of pieces of counterfeit merchandise in this manner.
Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 14, 2012. Raad faces up to 20 years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, Bruce M. Foucart, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, and Kevin Niland, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amy Harman Burkart and Scott L. Garland of Ortiz’s Cybercrime Unit.
