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Dhurandhar Expected To Be Released On Bail This Week

R S Shankar

Mamta Dhurandhar, described by Los Angeles law enforcement agencies as one of the brains in the biggest computer software scam, has been released on a $ 300,000 bond and is under electronic detention at her Palos Verdes home.

Her husband, Atul Dhurandhar, is expected to be released this week on a $ 375,000 bond and will also be under electronic surveillance, Thom Mrozek at the United States Attorney's office said.

The Dhurandhars were arrested with six other people in early June by FBI and California law enforcement agencies and were charged with running a multinational Microsoft counterfeiting and money laundering scheme. Though initially they were arrested for making $ 56 million worth of software, authorities suspect they would have made far more money through their illegal operation spread over several years. Also arrested in the scam is Hemant Navnit Bham, a friend and alleged accessory to the scam.

Atul Dhurandhar was arrested at his home; he was watering his lawn. Police reportedly found $ 20,000 cash on him. His wife was arrested a few minutes later. Their lawyers have refused to comment on their arrest and bail arrangement or any other aspect of the case.

Mrozek described how the couple, both American citizens, had purchased a replicator for $ 1.2 million in Taiwan and smuggled it into the United States.

The authorities have seized seven properties that belonged to the Dhurandhars. Court papers charge Atul Dhurandhar of running legitimate and illegitimate businesses in order to facilitate the production and sale of counterfeit computer software packages. His wife allowed her checking accounts to be used to pay employees, and Hemant Bham managed the workers and the counterfeit operation facilities.

Dhurandhar used his elderly mother's account to receive part of the payments for his illegal operation, authorities charge. Between May 1998 and January 1999, at least $ 850,000 were deposited in the mother's account.

In 1998 alone, the couple bought properties worth nearly $ 2 million in the names of third parties.

Software piracy costs the United States over $ 6.3 billion in wages and revenue in 1996, and is a $ 11 billion global problem.

The Dhurandhar case is followed with keen interest by Microsoft and other software firms because they have been worried how California has become the national base for counterfeiters whose fake software that looks so good even seasoned computer experts can't tell the difference.

"The irony of all this is the counterfeiters are mimicking us," Chris Chapin, manager of intellectual property enforcement for video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc in Redwood City told reporters recently. "They are our worst business rivals."

"Nearly everything [counterfeit] of ours that we are seeing being made in Southern California is retail-ready," said Anne Murphy, an attorney with Microsoft's anti-counterfeiting team. "That's a big threat to our business because people think they're buying the real thing."

Officials in California say software piracy, once a problem confined to Asia and Latin America, is a big time business in their own state.

The prosecution and sentencing of Dhurandhars and co-conspirators should be a strong warning to other counterfeit businesses, authorities say.

But computer industry bosses want tougher punishments. They know that under the current California laws, the Dhurandhars may each get about 10 years in prison and could be eligible for parole in about four years. They also face the possibility of their citizenship being revoked and deported to India.

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