Imagine spending seven months in a Chinese prison for a crime you did not commit.
Imagine being sent there by business executives sitting 6,000 miles away in Palo Alto, California—in “the land of the free.”
Eight years ago, Hewlett-Packard and its subsidiaries framed three Chinese nationals and had them thrown into Beijing’s Haidian Detention Center, where they spent seven hellish months in unspeakable conditions.
HP wants us to forget what happened. We will not.
THE STORY
HP sold counterfeit equipment to a small business, ICT, for resale. Then, it had ICT salespeople arrested for selling that counterfeit equipment. After that, HP executives lied and actively worked to cover up the truth to keep three innocent people in prison. This is their story.
Integrated Communications & Technologies, Inc. (ICT) is a small Boston-based company in the business of promoting environmentally-friendly recycling and facilitating the repurposing of used electronics as an alternative to old fashioned e-wasting.
In 2011, ICT became an authorized HP equipment vendor and purchased computer networking equipment from an HP subsidiary in India. ICT shipped the equipment to China, where its Chinese sales associates Jade, Jason and Cathy started reselling it.
“We loved working at ICT. We not only made good monthly salaries, but were also rewarded by the Company with commissions, bonuses, flexible working hours, and friendly treatment. Our families also felt happy for us with our jobs at ICT. With a good income and flexible work schedule, it was more than enough.”
—Jade Cheng
Unaware that the equipment was sold to ICT by its sister company in India, a Chinese HP subsidiary filed a criminal complaint with the feared Chinese Public Security Bureau (PSB), alleging that ICT associates were selling counterfeit equipment. The PSB raided ICT’s Beijing office and arrested Jade, Jason and Cathy.
“Who were they going to believe? A huge well-known company such as HP or a small company such as ICT?”
—Jade Cheng
Despite valid contracts, letters, and other documentation proving that ICT had acquired the equipment from HP itself, HP relentlessly pushed for criminal prosecution and withheld information that could have secured Jade’s, Jason’s and Cathy’s release. HP was not willing to admit their wrongdoing and conspired to keep the innocent people in prison to cover up what they had done.
“I felt this crushing pain in my chest, I couldn’t breathe. I was played by HP/HPFS/H3C. I was an ant in their eyes. Nothing I say will match up to what HP/HPFS/H3C had said!”
—Jade Cheng
Jade, Jason and Cathy spent seven months in the Haidian Detention Center in Beijing—infamous for its brutal treatment of detainees—and were stripped of their basic human rights. They spent another year out on bail under the shadow of a criminal trial and a 10-year prison sentence.
“We lost what we treasured most in our lives: our freedom, happiness, family, friends, income, and humanity. Jason, Cathy and I were not the only ones that endured the cruel treatments—our families also worried and suffered together.”
—Jade Cheng
We now know that HP and its subsidiaries were in constant communication with each other on the subject of the counterfeit equipment and the three innocent people being held behind bars. We know they failed to act—moreover, they worked to cover up evidence, including re-purchasing counterfeit equipment from the same batch and paying another company to destroy it.
“It would not have taken HP/HPFS/H3C any effort to present that ICT company and we three employees were not at any fault. They could have stated that they made a mistake and we would have been released.”
—Jade Cheng
In the face of HP’s efforts to frame Jade, Jason and Cathy, ICT leadership and the detainees’ families fought relentlessly for their freedom. In 2014, Chinese prosecutors dropped the charges and apologized to Jade, Jason and Cathy for their undeserved suffering.
“After I was released, I have had nightmares back to back. I always dreamed I was still inside. I wanted to open my eyes to check if it was really a dream. On the other hand, I also feared to open them because, what if it was not just a dream?”
—Jade Cheng
THE TIMELINE
1993:
ICT is founded in Boston by Alex Styller, an immigrant and a political refugee from the former Soviet Union.
2011:
ICT becomes an authorized HP equipment vendor and buys equipment from an HP subsidiary in India for resale purposes. ICT ships the equipment to its team in China for resale.
2012:
ICT sales associates Jade, Jason and Cathy begin selling equipment. By the end of the year, an HP subsidiary in China has filed a complaint against them for selling counterfeit equipment. Jade, Jason and Cathy are hauled to Haidian Detention Center in Beijing
2013:
Jade, Jason and Cathy remain in prison for 210 days. During this time, HP and ICT independently confirm that HP sold counterfeit equipment to ICT. HP begins covering its tracks. ICT submits a 281-page file to the Chinese police and the prosecutor, telling its side of the story. Jade, Jason and Cathy are released on bail for one year, living under the constant threat of conviction.
2014:
Chinese prosecutors drop all charges and apologize for their undeserved suffering.
IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS
ABOUT
Jade, Jason and Cathy spent seven horrific months in the torture-like conditions of the Haidian Detention Center in Beijing—infamous for its brutal treatment of detainees.
Cathy was 22 when arrested and at times thought she would not survive. She was offered the opportunity to go free if she would turn on Jason and Jade. She refused; she is a hero.
Jason was 26 and stayed alive by fighting off gangsters. He, too, is a hero.
Jade, the team leader, 31, was locked in 300-square-foot cells packed with 40 inmates and forced to sleep for months on the toilet floor. He was denied family visits or medical treatment; forced to take ice-cold showers every morning; to sit on sharp wooden boards for hours; and to remain silent and not speak. Jade went to the Chinese Public Security Bureau (PSB) voluntarily in an effort to save Jason and Cathy from jail, knowing it was a near certainty he would also be arrested and incarcerated. He could have run and hidden in Brazil, where his wife is from. But he choose to try to save his employees.
He, too, is a hero.
When Jade went to save Jason and Cathy, his wife Caroline—a native of Brazil who spoke no Chinese—spent seven months living in her in-laws’ rural village a 10-hour drive from Beijing with no news from her husband.
Upon their release, Jade, Jason and Cathy spent another year on bail under the shadow of a criminal trial and a 10-year prison sentence, until the prosecutor dropped the charges and apologized for their undeserved suffering.
HP could have prevented all of this from happening. To this day, it has refused to apologize or take responsibility for its actions.