Buried story resurfaces, exposing that US military bought fake military equipment from China

BROOKLYN, NY— Counterfeit military equipment that could have put U.S. servicemembers' lives at risk was purchased by the U.S. military out of China for several years. While three suspects were ultimately found guilty of the conspiracy, it brings to question the processes followed by the government when purchasing such important equipment and its use of taxpayer money.

The government was allegedly defrauded in excess of $20 million taxpayer dollars in the process, of which only a portion was recovered.

As reported by AirForceTimes, Justice Department officials said that the orchestration of the counterfeit operation took place between January 2013 and October 2018 during much of the Presidency of Barack Obama and ending during the first term of former President Donald Trump.

The outlet reported that Multicam APECS Parkas that were sold to an undisclosed U.S. Air Force base supply center, designed to counteract night vision technology and were to be used by U.S. personnel in Afghanistan, were counterfeit and didn't negate night vision at all. The use of these parkas would have placed American troops in serious danger from hostile forces. 

In a press release, the Justice Department explained, "Among other specifications, the parka was made with fabric having Near-Infrared (NIR) signature management technology. The NIR technology allowed the service member to appear at the same radiation level as the surrounding terrain, thus making the wearer more difficult to detect by NIR Image converters, such as certain night vision goggles."

The suspect in the case is Ramin Kohanbash, 49 at the time of arrest in 2019, was convicted and sentenced to just three years in prison for his actions. He and his associates reportedly acted in violation of the Berry Amendment and the Trade Agreements Act requiring that materials sold to the military and other specified government agencies be manufactured here in the U.S. or among a list of authorized countries. The DOJ cited in particular that China is not among those countries.

Kohanbash and those working with him allegedly sent samples of authentic U.S. Military uniforms and gear to manufacturers in China who then recreated them according to a May 2019 filing in the U.S. District Court. Air Force Times wrote that he even informed the manufacturers by email what changes should be made to the counterfeit goods and their labels to better avoid detection. DOJ officials said that he provided images of the tags and labels for reference.

Kohanbash's associates were also tried and convicted, with Bernard Klein receiving a sentence of 18 months behind bars, plus a $15,000 fine and $400,000 restitution. Terry Roe was the third convicted defendant, received 24 months in prison. 

The illegal, fake merchandise was then churned out of Chinese manufacturers at a fraction of the cost and shipped back to the U.S. where Kohanbash would distribute them to wholesalers who would then sell them to "military and government buyers off as genuine, American-made products," the press release stated.

In addition to the parkas, Kohanbash and his associates allegedly labeled counterfeit hoods for military and law enforcement personnel as "permanently flame resistant" stating fraudulently that they met industry standards for flame-resistant attire, the release said. Investigators added that they were actually not flame resistant. Kohanbash even provided false letters of certification claiming the U.S. military materials were genuine.