Taiwan's Pan-Chiao District Court has sentenced seven employees of Taiwan's Yudian Company to jail time after the discovery of 1.5 million pieces of counterfeit Nintendo goods in May of 2001, according to a press release by Nintendo of America.
The Yudian Company is said to have been a major manufacturer and distributor of counterfeit Nintendo Game Boy video game cartridges. Hwei-chu Chen, one of the principals of Yudian, was sentenced to six years in prison, while six other employees of Yudian received sentences of up to three years in prison. Meanwhile Yudian president Kuo has fled and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
"Chen-chi Kuo, Hwei-chu Chen and the companies they control have sold millions of Nintendo counterfeits around the world," said Jean Lin, manager of anti-piracy for Nintendo of America Inc. "This judgment will deter others from manufacturing and distributing Nintendo counterfeits in the future. We applaud the Taiwan governmental and judicial efforts to put an end to this major counterfeiting operation."