U.S. Department of Justice - CyberCrime.gov Archived

Copyright Cases - U.S. v. Prapakamol (C.D. Cal.)


February 12, 2003


U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
Debra W. Yang
Central District of California
Thom Mrozek
Public Affairs Officer
(213) 894-6947
Contact: Wesley L. Hsu
Assistant United States Attorney
(213) 894-3045

Thai National Indicted on Federal Charges of Importing Millions of Dollars in Counterfeit Software  

A Thai national has been indicted in Los Angeles on federal charges of smuggling into the United States millions of dollars worth of counterfeit computer software in 2002 and 2003, United States Attorney Debra W. Yang announced today.

Mongkol Prapakamol, 37, a Rowland Heights resident who is currently in custody in Vancouver, was indicted yesterday afternoon on 10 counts of trafficking in counterfeit software and one count of smuggling counterfeit software.

Prapakamol is accused of illegally importing counterfeit copies of popular software programs from a variety of companies. The counterfeit items included Symantec Corporation’s Norton AntiVirus and SystemWorks, Intuit Corporation’s Quicken, and video games published by LucasArts and Activision.

According to court documents, Prapakamol brought counterfeit software from Thailand and attempted to distribute the bogus products in the United States. The total retail value of the counterfeit software illegally imported by defendant is well over $1 million.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Prapakamol is currently detained in Vancouver pursuant to a provisional arrest warrant requested by the United States on January 15, as well as on local charges of trafficking in counterfeit software. Justice Department officials in Washington will make the final decision as to whether the United States will ask Canada to extradite Prapakamol. If convicted of all charges in the grand jury indictment, Prapakamol faces a statutory possible sentence of 105 years in federal prison and a fine of $20.25 million.

The case against Prapakamol was investigated by the United States Customs Service in Los Angeles. CONTACT: Assistant United States Attorney Wesley L. Hsu (213) 894-3045 Release No. 03.027


###

>> Return to the DOJ CyberCrime Cases Index Page

>> Return to the DOJ CyberCrime Index Page