Government indicts family

A Newport Beach family is due in federal court Oct. 27 to face charges of allegedly selling U.S. Navy counterfeit electronics that could have cost lives.

Mustafa Abdul Aljaff, 29, his sister, Marwah Felahy, 32, and her husband, Neil Felahy, 32, who all live in Newport Coast, face 11 counts of conspiracy, trafficking counterfeit goods and mail fraud, according to an indictment unsealed Oct. 8 in Washington D.C.

In March, June and July of this year, the three entered into contracts with the Navy and other government agencies to sell them integrated circuits, a tiny semiconductor used on everything from medical equipment to aircraft, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorneys’ Office.

The equipment was worth more than $140,000, prosecutors claim. Authorities said the three sold the government commercial-grade equipment and disguised it as military grade. Electronics built for the military are designed to withstand extreme temperature changes and high rates of vibration.

If the equipment is not up to par, it could fail and cause injury or death depending on what it’s used for, officials said.

Prosecutors claim the three took trademark-branded integrated circuits, removed the original markings and re-marked them as military grade to sell them.

They also imported circuits from China and sold them over the Internet, authorities claim.

The group operated under a litany of company names, including MVP Micro Inc., Red Hat Distributors and Becker Components Inc., officials said.

The trio’s attorney, James Riddet, declined to address the charges.

Aljaff and the Felahys are out on bail following their initial appearance on the charges last week.

Authorities wanted to keep all three behind bars but a judge rejected the request and granted them bail because they are not a flight risk, Riddet said.

Each could face more than five years in federal prison if convicted of all charges.