Three of the five men of Russian origin and who lived in Idaho were also sentenced in late March to four to seven years in federal prison, the FBI said in a statement.
They had developed a scam that caused multi-million dollar damage to consumers: five members of the same family were sentenced in late March by an Idaho court to pay a total of $ 51.2 million , or approximately 47 million euros, for having massively sold counterfeit iPhones and Samsung phones on Amazon and Ebay, the FBI announced on Sunday April 2 in a press release.
Five Family Members Sentenced to Prison and Ordered to Forfeit a Combined $51.9 Million Dollars in Proceeds from Their Fraudulent Sale of Counterfeit Trademarked Cellular Phones and Accessories @FBISaltLakeCity
— FBI (@FBI) April 2, 2023
According to the FBI, these five men offered for sale “Apple and Samsung products presented as new” while they were “purchased in bulk from a Hong Kong producer, before being repackaged and resold individually as branded products”.
Heavy damages
After a trial that lasted three months, the court sentenced Pavel Babichenko, Piotr Babichenko, Timofey Babichenko, David Bibikov and Mikhail Iyerusalimets to significant sentences and a very heavy financial penalty. Three of them will have to serve four and six years in federal prison, and pay very high damages: more than 33 million dollars for the only Pavel Babichenko, the most involved in the family, who will spend seven years behind bars. In total, the sum to be paid to the judicial authorities reaches 51.2 million dollars, not counting the lawyers’ fees, which will be decided at a future hearing.
International criminal organizations
“These convictions are the consequence of the relentless action of law enforcement to dismantle international criminal organizations,” said special agent Cheyvoryea Gibson, of the FBI office in Salt Lake City. in Idaho and around the world, the FBI continues to fight those who try to defraud American citizens and strip profits from American corporations.”
For its part, the family launched a petition against his prosecution, believing that he was the victim of a conspiracy linked to their Russian origin and their Christian religion.
