CLEARWATER, FL -- US authorities on Tuesday indicted the owner of a local distributor on charges of selling counterfeit electronics components to the US military.
VisionTech Components owner, Shannon L. Wren, and company administrator Stephanie L. McCloskey, were booked on charges of conspiracy, trafficking in counterfeit goods and mail fraud for selling certain integrated circuits imported from China and Hong Kong. The parts were marketed as “military grade,” according to a Department of Justice press release on the indictment.
According to the Justice Department, the faked chips bore counterfeit "military grade" markings and included parts alleged to be from major vendors such as Intel, National Semiconductor, Motorola and Texas Instruments.
VisionTech sold a reported $15.8 million worth of fake chips to the military, the statement said. According to the Justice Department, companies related to VisionTech are Infuture Inc., Infuture Electronics and Carz Inc.