8 Arrested, Homes Seized in Alleged Software Piracy

Federal and state authorities seized several Los Angeles County homes valued at more than $4 million and arrested eight people this week on suspicion of money laundering and running the nation’s largest Microsoft counterfeiting scheme.

Atul Sowmitra Dhurandhur, 51, and his wife, Mamta, 44, both of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, are accused of running a $56-million piracy ring that allegedly shipped about 15,000 fake software disks worldwide each month since at least 1996.

The Dhurandhurs were arrested Thursday with Zhi Ang “Mike” Chen, 38, of Walnut; Alpha Brown, 30, of Torrance; Daniel Labonte, 50, of Long Beach; Mar Madrid, 31, of Azusa; Loren Woolley, 54, of La Verne; and Claude Irwin, 76, of Nueva.

Police and FBI agents found tens of thousands of fake Microsoft Corp. products in several warehouses in Long Beach and Paramount during raids in February. They found copies of such bestsellers as the computer operating systems Windows 95 and Windows 98, as well as business software Office 97.

The couple allegedly used several legitimate businesses in Long Beach to create the copies, including Digital Colors print shop, MD Packaging and MD Printing, and Bindery Zone.

Investigators used a diesel big-rig to haul away dozens of boxes of packaged software after the raids.

Prosecutors allege that the Dhurandhurs used an elderly relative’s bank account to hide more than $3 million in cash from sales of the fake software products. The couple purportedly opened several bank accounts with Bank of America and Bank of Orange County to launder the proceeds from the pirated goods, Assistant U.S. Atty. Stephen Larson said.