A software pirate whose employer discovered his $700,000 counterfeit-games operation will spend the next 2 1/2 years in federal prison.


Qiang "Michael" Bi, 36, of Powell, Ohio, was sentenced today on charges of copyright infringement, mail fraud and identity theft for more than four years worth of selling pirated games at $10 a pop, reports The Columbus Dispatch. Bi's activity came to light when he sent a spreadsheet detailing the counterfeit sales to his email account with his employer, Nationwide Insurance.

Bi's sentence includes a forfeiture of $367,669, representing his illicit sales, as well as his house, car, computer and electronic equipment associated with the enterprise.


After Nationwide found the email containing the spreadsheet, the FBI and U.S. Postal Inspectors were called in to investigate. He apparently had sold counterfeit games from 2005 to December 2009. Investigators valued the retail price of his counterfeit games sales at $700,000.

Computer-Game Counterfeiter Sentenced [The Columbus Dispatch]