Man Busted Bootlegging $1 Million in Quicken/Turbo Tax Software

And of course he didn't report the sales of counterfeit software on his income taxes.

Via Fox19 (Cincinnati):

Brandon C. Davis, 31, of Cincinnati pleaded guilty today to selling more than $1 million worth of counterfeit financial and tax preparation software through an internet auction site.

Carter Stewart, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Tracey E. Warren, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS), Dugan T. Wong, Assistant Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and J. Mark Batts, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced the plea entered today before Senior U.S. District Judge Herman J. Weber. Davis pleaded guilty to four charges: mail fraud, copyright infringement, and two counts of filing a false income tax return.

According to a court documents, Davis purchased software by download or on a CD, with accompanying label and packaging that was protected by copyright, namely Quicken and Turbo Tax software manufactured by Intuit, Inc. Davis copied each CD of original software multiple times without permission and created counterfeit packaging and labeling for the CDs.

Davis sold the counterfeit Intuit software on eBay, received payment, and then mailed the counterfeit software to the purchaser via the United States Postal Service. Within the packaging, Davis sometimes included a false disclaimer claiming that he was merely acting as a broker for another seller. Davis also falsely represented on the online eBay auctions that he was selling original Intuit software, but instead the defendant sold counterfeit Intuit software, usually at prices below manufacturer's suggested retail price.

Davis failed to report the income from the counterfeit software sales when he filed his income tax returns for 2008 and 2009.

What have we learned today, kids? Well, for starters, it's not nice to steal other people's intellectual property, especially when the DoJ has an IP taskforce specifically to hunt down guys (and gals) like these. And second, don't use mailmen as your dirty little messengers, you'll regret it later.

h/t Going Concern