T-Mobile USA has obtained two final judgments and permanent injunctions as part of the company’s ongoing efforts to combat the unauthorized bulk purchase and resale of T-Mobile prepaid mobile phones. One judgment was entered against defendant Rafiq Wazir Ali, individually and doing business as Fone Xchange, in a federal lawsuit filed in Houston. The other judgment was entered against ASPAC Inc., its principals and affiliates, by a federal court in Dallas, and awards T-Mobile $6.5 million in damages in addition to a permanent injunction against the defendants.
Traffickers such as Ali, Fone Xchange and ASPAC profit by pocketing subsidies from T-Mobile, which suppose to be received by consumers. Traffickers typically buy, or solicit others to buy, prepaid mobile phones in bulk from retail stores, remove the phones from their original packaging, discard warranties and manuals, hack into the phones’ software, and resell the phones and accessories to unsuspecting customers at a substantial profit.
“T-Mobile is committed to protecting consumers and our company by shutting down these traffickers,” said Doug Chartier, vice president, retail partner sales, T-Mobile USA. “We are pleased by the result in these cases, and expect similar successes in our other pending and planned lawsuits.”
T-Mobile has six additional lawsuits pending in federal courts across the country and has plans to file additional cases soon.
