(Not) made in the USA: Defense contractor sold U.S. military 'American' goods that were made in Chin

[UpInArms]

Source: Marketwatch

It was as far from “Made in the USA” as you can get.

A Virginia-based defense contractor has been sentenced to nearly five years in prison for selling more than $7 million in goods to the U.S. military that were labeled as having been made in the USA but were actually manufactured in China, the Department of Justice said.

Beyung S. Kim, 62, of Newport News, Va., the owner of Iris Kim Inc., admitted that he had imported items from China for years but then cut off their Made in China tags and replaced them with labels that said Made in the USA before selling the items to various branches of the military.

Kim’s company provided goods ranging from swimsuits for cadets at West Point and promotional T-shirts for the Army’s stunt parachute team, the Golden Knights, to water bottles emblazoned with the logo for the Marine Corps. The company also procured T-shirts for the National Guards of Indiana, North Dakota and Arkansas as well as spools of concertina wire and wire ropes for the Coast Guard.

In all, the company signed dozens of contracts with the Department of Defense between 2011 and 2018 worth $24 million. Prosecutors say Kim would procure the goods from China and have them shipped to a warehouse in the U.S. He then enlisted the help of a labelling firm to remove all trace of the items’ origin and relabel them as being Made in the USA.

Read more: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/not-made-in-the-usa-defense-contractor-sentenced-for-selling-u-s-military-millions-in-goods-made-in-china-but-labelled-as-american-11629408793?mod=home-page

[Casady1]

1. War dogs

wasn't this movie about this exact situation.

[COL Mustard]

3. War Dogs Was About A Company Called AEY

That was buying ammunition for the Afghan National Army. They were prohibited from buying any Chinese ammo per the terms of their contract, but they did it anyway. The Army had to step in and set up an office to oversee it. They bought ammo and weapons from a lot of places in Eastern Europe but they did it legally. They also bought Russian-designed helicopters for the Afghan Air Force.

This guy is lucky he only got 5 years.

[Stuart G]

2. One thing for sure: He was sure that he was going to get away with it.Just like his hero: Mr.Trump

...Yes, totally absolutely sure ...."no one would catch him"

...Well, Well, Well, this is swell....Not only..."No one would catch him" but also, "I can pay the penalty if they catch me"

So the very last thing he expected....was..."Jail Time"....

I guess the surprise & the joke is on this crook...Mr Kim thought he could get away with the sin...............

but he can spend some time....with those who believed the same line.....

.Mr. Kim is in for a surprise....his time in jail won't be the same as it is in Newport News, Va!....And, when you think you have
seen it all, there is always ...."MORE!"

............................What do you know....it is quite a show!!!!

[Chainfire]

4. There was probably dirty deeds done on the Military procurement side too.

How about prove what factory you made the gear in? (Or slip me $10,000.00)

[LiberalFighter]

5. They better go after the other companies involved.

[rockfordfile]

8. I agree

[EarthFirst]

6. At which point in the verification process would someone need to physically visit a facility...

...to verify the merits of its manufacturing process?

Seems to me it’s a “Yep! All set!” Wink; wink; nudge; nudge..

[Worried2020]

7. T-shirts, water bottles, razor wire etc. - what's the big fuggin deal?

.

If we get rid of everything made in China that is here in North America, our phones won't work, our computers, our fridges, freezers, air conditioners, automobiles blah blah blah . . .

We'd be in one heck of a mess!

We've made almost everything about the $$$ - so we import stuff we want where it is cheaper to make than here.

Imagine the mess we'd be in if China just "cut us off" from imports. Oh yeah, China would take a hit, but the hurt would be felt in North America more than we could ever imagine.

We're struggling here financially, China is not.

We should pay attention . . .



W