A Grand Prairie man who bought Chinese products and relabeled them “Made in the USA” has pleaded guilty to defrauding the federal government.
Suhaib Allababidi, 45, owned 2M Solutions Inc., a company that claimed its security cameras, solar-powered light towers, digital video recorders and other electronics were manufactured in the United States, when they were actually purchased from Chinese companies, according to government prosecutors.
Allababidi did not respond to requests for comment.
Allababidi’s company secured contracts with the departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security. His company would remove labels indicating the country of origin and replace them with labels indicating they were manufactured in 2M’s Grand Prairie facility, prosecutors said.
On its packaging, Allababidi’s company included logos of an American flag in the shape of a map of the U.S. and the words “Made in the USA.”
“The federal government takes pride in purchasing products made in the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham in a statement. “This defendant’s lies undermined the Buy America Act and with it, American manufacturing.”
The Buy America Act generally prohibits the government from buying products made outside the country with some limited exceptions.
2M Solutions also pleaded guilty to submitting false information to the government’s Automated Export System about products exported to foreign customers. The company falsified the description of exported items, misrepresented the recipient and falsely stated that no export licenses were needed for shipments that required them, prosecutors said.
The company took steps to conceal the products with Chinese origin. A 2M employee once sent a Chinese company an email reminding it that “we do not want any Chinese characters or stickers on the shipment” and adding that such stickers “will cause many problems for us,” according to court documents.
Allababidi faces up to five years in federal prison, and his firm could be fined up to $1 million or twice the amount of criminally derived property, whichever is greater.
In 2017, Allababidi was among 11 U.S. citizens or permanent residents who sued the Department of Homeland Security for confiscating and searching their phones and laptops at the U.S. border in violation of privacy and free speech protections. According to SCOTUS Blog, the high court declined to hear the case in June 2021.
