Police and prosecutors join Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown and New York City Police Captain Donald Boller (center), of the NYPD’s Trademark Infringement Unit, in announcing that four organized trademark counterfeiting rings that grossed $10 million annually have been successfully dismantled following the indictment of twenty-six individuals and two corporations for allegedly importing and selling counterfeit brand name apparel and other items from China to wholesale buyers throughout the United States and the Virgin Islands. Photo Courtesy Queens District Attorney
If you’d been wondering how your friend could have afforded a pair of $400 True Religion jeans and you couldn’t, odds are it’s because they might not have been the genuine article. Two corporations and twenty-six individuals have been arrested at the end of a three-year undercover operation into the manufacture and sale of counterfeit designer items and cigarettes. Authorities say the ring had ties across the United States and as far reaching as China.
Along with True Religion other targeted brands included, Polo By Ralph Lauren, The North Face, Nike, and Timberland. Other items alleged to have been produced were watches, headphones, and unstamped counterfeit cigarettes.
This week, District Attorney Richard Brown and Police Commissioner Ray Kelley announced that four of the rings, based in Queens and elsewhere have been dismantled. Business was conducted, according to authorities, in self-storage facilities and generated approximately $10 million in combined gross annual revenue.
The ring was a complex, well- organized hierarchy, typical of such trademark counterfeiting enterprises was comprised of bosses, investors, importers, manufacturing/production people, shippers and money agents and wholesale buyers. It catered to wholesale buyers in at least 21 different states and the U.S. Virgin Islands interested in purchasing counterfeit products of major brands for resale.
Among several other Queens residents arrested was Samantha Defreitas, 26, of 86-13 89 Street in Woodhaven, Queens, who is charged with third-degree trademark counterfeiting. DeFreitas was identified as a wholesale buyer in the operation who purchased finished products from members of the enterprise and then re-sold that merchandise either to another wholesale buyer or to individual customers in storefronts or flea-market-style venues. De Freitas was release on her own recognizance.
The defendants have been charged with enterprise corruption, first-, second- and third-degree trademark counterfeiting and fourth- and fifth-degree conspiracy. Some will face up to 25 years in prison with others facing up to seven if convicted. In the case of a corporation, a felony is punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 or double the amount of the illegal gain.
By Samantha Geary
