A gang of four suspected software pirates were arrested in a raid by FBI agents in Los Angeles last week. Counterfeit Microsoft software worth an estimated $10.5 million was seized.

According to Reuters, the software CDs included copies of Microsoft's Windows Millennium Edition which were easy to spot because they used a sticker instead of the hologram which features on a genuine CD.

It is believed that a gang of five people, four of whom were arrested, smuggled a number of different software packages from Asia to the US, where they were then sold at knockdown prices.

Richard LaMagna, Microsoft's senior manager of worldwide piracy enforcement, told Reuters that the gang was well-organised, well-funded and appeared to be "distributing millions of dollars of software."

The men arrested by the FBI reportedly include Chien Sim Cheh (alias Ted Chien), Hung Gia Huynh (aka Raymond Wong), Eddy Chun Yao King and Henry Chi Wong. A fifth suspect, Cheuk Hong Wong, remains at large. ®

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