A 51-year-old Taiwanese national, Pen Yu, has been handed down a prison term of three years and eight months for his role in defrauding a biochemical company, as well as sending its products to China under falsified export documents. Court records indicate that Yu was part of a conspiracy involving wire fraud, which allowed him and his co-conspirators to divert over $4.9 million worth of products with the help of inside assistance from a salesperson at MilliporeSigma, as mentioned by the U.S Attorney's Office.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the scheme involved fabricating ties with a large Florida university to obtain significant discounts and other benefits that were not accessible to the general public. These included free overnight shipping, which helped facilitate the shipment of the products to their ultimate destination in China. An employee at the university stockroom was instrumental in rerouting the deliveries to Yu, allowing the operation to persist uninterrupted for several years.
The deception was eventually discovered when compliance officers from MilliporeSigma flagged certain orders as suspicious. This development led the company to hire outside counsel who then promptly reported the issue to the Department of Justice’s National Security Division. This initial disclosure happened even before a complete grasp of the scheme's scope was attained through further investigation. Demonstrating exemplary cooperation, MilliporeSigma's proactive approach enabled the prosecutorial team to expeditiously establish probable cause to search for and prosecute the individuals involved.
In addition to Yu's sentencing, co-conspirators Gregory Muñoz and Jonathan Thyng have also pleaded guilty on May 9 and July 23, respectively. Yu's sentence was appended with a three-year term of supervised release, and a forfeiture order was entered by the court for the amount of $100,000, corresponding with the proceeds of the fraud, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The investigation was conducted by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry Security, and Homeland Security Investigations. The case fell under the purview of Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel J. Marcet for the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorney Garrett Coyle of the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section. The judicial procedure resulted in recent guilty pleas from all parties involved, ensuring justice for their crimes.
