Clark County Couple Pleads Guilty to Counterfeit Software Scheme Pleas Follow Trial’s Opening Statements on Sales of Counterfeit Software and Tax Evasion

WAYNE CHIH-WEI SHU, 44, and MAYNILA VORAVONGSENG, 43, husband and wife living in Battleground, Washington, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to charges stemming from their scheme to profit from selling counterfeit Microsoft software and their failure to file income tax returns. SHU pleaded guilty to mail fraud, trafficking in counterfeit goods, trafficking in illicit labels, and two counts of wilful failure to file tax returns. VORAVONGSENG pleaded guilty to two counts of wilful failure to file tax returns. The couple chose to enter their guilty pleas following opening statements in the trial on the charges. SHU faces up to 37 years in prison when sentenced by U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle on April 18, 2011. VORAVONGSENG faces up to two years in prison on the tax related charges.

According to records filed in the case, SHU owned and operated various entities that advertised and sold counterfeit and tampered with software over the Internet. The companies operated under the names Micro Sharp, Inc., Micro Sharp Technologies, Inc., Microsharp.com., Inc., and Meet Your Price, Inc. SHU offered Microsoft products for sale over the Internet. The products were counterfeit, tampered with, or infringed on copyrights owned and held by others. SHU engaged in a practice known as “kitting;” selling software products that contained a mix of some genuine components with other components that were counterfeit or tampered with. The “kitting” made it more difficult for customers to determine that the software was counterfeit. SHU also used counterfeit licenses and certificates of authenticity to fool consumers who thought they were purchasing licensed Microsoft products. Pursuant to a law passed by Congress in 2004, it is illegal to traffic in stand-alone certificates of authenticity absent the software that the certificate was designed to authenticate. SHU continued his sales of counterfeit software and stand alone certificates of authenticity even after Microsoft sent him numerous “cease and desist” letters over several years. As part of his plea agreement, SHU admitted that he sold up to $1 million worth of counterfeit software and illicit certificates of authenticity during the course of the scheme.

When law enforcement executed a court authorized search warrant at SHU’s residence on June 20, 2007, they seized an estimated $2.6 million worth of software that included genuine software, counterfeit software, illicit labels of authenticity, and software that had been tampered with in order to disguise its origin. Analysis revealed that 41 percent of the products were counterfeit or tampered with. The investigation also revealed that SHU and VORAVONGSENG stopped filing personal or corporate income tax returns in 2004, resulting in a tax loss of nearly $335,000 in tax years 2004, 2005, and 2006. The couple has agreed to work with the IRS to determine their tax liabilities for 2004-2007.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, the couple is forfeiting to the government a 2000 Mercedes, nearly $70,000 in cash and bank accounts, and equity in their home. The amount of restitution will be determined at the sentencing hearing.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kathryn Warma and Norman Barbosa.

For additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorney’s Office, at (206) 553-4110 or Emily.Langlie@USDOJ.Gov.