A year later, Aksoy signed a plea deal to receive a reduced sentence.

Aksoy operated 19 online companies under the umbrella corporation Pro connection Entities.

Some of his customers included the US Army, Navy, and Air Force.

Courts sentence scammer to 6 years for operating a billion-dollar Cisco counterfeiting ring

He also sold gear to other government agencies, schools, hospitals, and private enterprises.

The quality of the fraudulent gear was substandard, suffering poor performance and complete failures after installation.

The devices started life as Cisco rejects.

Cisco sent Pro internet seven cease-and-desist notices, but Aksoy replied with forged invoices using aliases and fake addresses.

So, US Customs began seizing shipments destined for the scammer.

Between 2014 and 2022, agents confiscated approximately 180 shipments of fake Cisco equipment.

However, Aksoy used fake names and documents to recover many of these seizures.

Upon arrest, authorities confiscated another 1,156 devices worth $7 million from Aksoy’s warehouse.