Kwong S. Wu, 31, from London, pleaded guilty Wednesday to violating the federal Radio Communications Act after he was caught selling illegal satellite TV equipment in a downtown mall in September 2003.
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After Kwong placed an advertisement in a newspaper promoting a three-day liquidation sale last year, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police received a phone call alleging Kwong was selling pirated equipment out of his electronics store in the Rainbow Outlet Mall.
After visiting the store, the RCMP obtained a warrant to search the business and arrested Kwong for selling illegal satellite equipment.
At the time of his arrest, police seized Â?a substantial amount of cash,Â? said federal prosecutor Robert Topp in the Ontario Court of Justice.
Aside from around $12,755 in cash ($200 was later returned to Wu so he could travel home to London), police also confiscated about $20,000 in computer and satellite equipment.
Toronto defence lawyer Alan Gold said his client has now left his life of crime and returned to work as a computer consultant, a field in which he is Â?quite talented.Â?
As part of a plea bargain, Wu pleaded guilty to one offence and agreed to forfeit the money and equipment seized by police as proceeds of crime. His only request was that police return his laptop computer.
Â?ItÂ?s clear that this was an operation that was sophisticated,Â? said Ontario Court Justice Ronald Boivin as he sentenced Wu to a fine of $4,000, plus the money and equipment already seized.
In total, not factoring in his lawyerÂ?s fee, Wu lost more than $30,000 due to his criminal activity. Since the time of his arrest, the legal penalties and fees selling illegal satellite TV equipment have increased dramatically.
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