The FBI has charged Terry “Jiajia” Liu, a Customs and Border Protection supervisor in Calais, Maine, with theft and damage to government property. Liu allegedly removed Intel 14th Generation Raptor Lake Refresh processors, memory modules, and hard drives from at least 46 Department of Homeland Security computers across three Maine border facilities. The stolen components were replaced with lower-quality hardware, sometimes downgraded to older processors like Pentium chips, resulting in degraded system performance.
Liu’s official role was limited to IT support and explicitly prohibited from moving or modifying government computers, as stated in a written order from Port Director Theodore Cummings. Despite this, surveillance footage captured Liu opening government machines during the midnight shift, removing original parts, and installing replacements.
Investigators found that 39 computers had their processors swapped, six had memory modules replaced, and eight had hard drives changed. Instead of selling the stolen hardware openly, Liu used Newegg’s Trade-In program to exchange the high-end components for store credit, with records showing multiple trade-ins of Core i7 processors over a 14-month period.
During questioning, Liu admitted to replacing government-owned parts with inferior components purchased online and submitting the stolen hardware to Newegg’s program. Initially, Liu claimed the intent was to improve computer performance and repair times but later acknowledged the changes actually reduced system capabilities.
The cost to restore the stolen hardware is estimated at approximately $20,460. Fully replacing all affected computers with equivalent equipment would cost around $105,800, excluding additional labor for system configuration. This incident highlights the risks posed by insider threats within government IT environments and the challenges in safeguarding critical infrastructure assets.