Michigan Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Charges of Smuggling CRTs to Hong Kong, China

A Michigan man faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he's sentenced July 14 after pleading guilty to federal conspiracy charges for repeatedly trying to smuggle hazardous e-waste to Hong Kong and China and concealing his actions by lying about them on federal disclosure forms. The defendant, Lip Bor Ng (aka Paul Wu), admits to having had others load CRT monitors into containers for shipment from Detroit to Los Angeles and on to Hong Kong and China between 2010 and 2011 and directing others to “file documents containing false statements related to the merchandise in order to conceal the presence of the CRT monitors,” said his signed plea agreement, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Detroit. Ng knew U.S. law prohibits the shipment of hazardous waste, including CRTs, to Hong Kong and China without their consent, the plea agreement said. He “knowingly” failed to file a “notification of intent” to export the CRTs with the Environmental Protection Agency as required under federal hazardous waste laws, it said. Ng admits to having filed fraudulent “shippers export documents” on the Commerce Department’s Automated Export System database certifying the containers he shipped from Detroit to Los Angeles for export to Hong Kong and China held plastic and metal “scrap” when they held “various types of used electronics and computer components,” including dozens of CRTs, it said.