Feds Accuse NJ Company of Repackaging Banned Facial Recognition Cameras

In New Jersey, state and local agencies have been caught in a significant scandal involving the purchase of surveillance equipment from Packetalk, a local company. The company’s CEO, Tamer Zakhary, has been charged with wire fraud and making false statements, accused of selling at least $35 million worth of rebranded Chinese surveillance cameras from Dahua Technology to these agencies.

Notably, Dahua Technology is known for its involvement in human rights violations against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang and is banned from U.S. government purchases. Despite this, Zakhary allegedly sold these cameras, misleading agencies about their origin and compliance with U.S. law.

Zakhary’s deceit involved repackaging Dahua cameras with Packetalk branding and using federal COVID relief funds, at least $15 million, to facilitate the purchases. This misuse of funds was part of a broader trend where government agencies rapidly acquired surveillance technology using COVID relief money. The FBI’s investigation revealed Zakhary’s explicit efforts to secure these funds, falsely claiming the equipment complied with federal regulations.

Packetalk, advertising a comprehensive surveillance ecosystem, has supplied various surveillance tools, including automated license plate readers, to numerous New Jersey cities and state prosecutors. The company has been recognized by New Jersey’s Attorney General as a certified vendor for automated license plate reader programs.

The investigation uncovered emails between Zakhary and Dahua, showing efforts to circumvent the U.S. ban on Dahua products, including discussions about rebranding and data storage. Despite these revelations, Zakhary claimed to the FBI that the cameras sold were mere shells running Packetalk software, thus allegedly compliant with U.S. regulations.

Source: Court Watch & 404 Media

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January 9, 2024 – by the FindBiometrics Editorial Team