Los Angeles, California – Two Southern California corporate executives were sentenced to federal prison on Monday in what the Justice Department called a landmark criminal enforcement under the Consumer Product Safety Act. The convictions mark the first time corporate officers have been held criminally responsible for failing to report dangerous consumer products.
Simon Chu, 70, of Pomona, and Charley Loh, 67, of Arcadia, received prison terms of 38 and 40 months, respectively, after a jury found them guilty in November of conspiring to defraud the U.S. government and failing to disclose life-threatening product defects. In addition to prison time, Chu was fined $5,000 and Loh $12,000.
At the heart of the case were defective dehumidifiers imported from China and sold under their leadership at Gree USA Inc. and another affiliated corporation based in the City of Industry. The dehumidifiers, manufactured by Gree Electric Appliances Inc. of Zhuhai, China, were implicated in more than 450 fires and millions of dollars in property damage. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued multiple recall announcements in connection with the units…