NEW BERN, N.C. – A Raleigh man has been sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison for importing and selling thousands of counterfeit vehicle airbags, which authorities say posed serious safety risks to unsuspecting drivers across North Carolina and beyond.
U.S. District Judge sentenced 31-year-old Mateen Mohammad Alinaghian after he pleaded guilty to trafficking counterfeit goods that mimicked airbags made by major automakers. Prosecutors said that from May 2022 through April 2024, Alinaghian imported roughly 2,500 fake airbags into the United States from a supplier in the United Kingdom and sold them through Facebook Marketplace under the aliases “Matt AutoParts” and “Medo Smith.”
Investigators said the counterfeit airbags bore markings from Honda, Chevrolet, General Motors, and Toyota, but testing by those manufacturers confirmed the products were unregulated and made from inferior materials. Some of the counterfeit airbags failed to deploy properly, while others inflated late—defects that could cause serious or fatal injuries in a collision.
The court also ordered Alinaghian to pay $83,405.95 in restitution to victims and automakers and to forfeit $154,693.16 in illegal proceeds. Authorities said multiple counterfeit airbags were seized from his home, and U.S. Customs intercepted additional shipments from overseas. The investigation also led to a coordinated raid by the City of London Police’s Intellectual Property Crime Unit, which recovered 500 more counterfeit airbags and £140,000 in cash.
Key details:
- Mateen Mohammad Alinaghian sentenced to one year and a day in prison
- Imported about 2,500 counterfeit airbags from the UK for resale in Raleigh
- Ordered to pay $83,405.95 in restitution and forfeit $154,693.16
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General, and Customs and Border Protection, with assistance from law enforcement in the United Kingdom.