SEATTLE – The owners of a Lynnwood business that sells medical equipment were sentenced to prison Wednesday in connection with a scheme to sell stolen devices.
A U.S. District Court jury convicted Tuyet Nguyen, 45, of Woodinville of conspiracy to transport stolen medical devices across state lines, two counts of interstate transportation of medical devices, three counts of transporting misbranded devices and one count of conspiracy to launder money.
She was sentenced to four years.
Her husband, Phu Nguyen, 46, was sentenced to a little more than three years behind bars. Phu Nguyen, and the couple’s company, Columbia Medical Systems of Lynnwood, pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy.
Tuyet Nguyen also was ordered to pay $750,00 in restitution. In addition the couple and Columbia Medical Systems must pay a $100,000 fine, according to the sentence handed down by Chief District Judge Robert Lasnik.
The investigation began in September 2000 when Bothell manufacturer Philips Medical Systems contacted the Bothell Police Department. Philips, and a company it acquired in 1998, design and manufacture ultrasound equipment.
An internal investigation had uncovered the theft of ultrasound transducers .
The couple worked for Philips for more than 14 years before they left in 1998 to form Columbia Medical Systems – a company that sells used medical equipment.
According to testimony and court documents, a Philips employee stole equipment and filled out false inventory paperwork relating to many ultrasound transducers. Columbia later sold that equipment, the government alleged.
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