More than 20 individuals have been charged for illegally bringing counterfeit goods manufactured in China, including Louis Vuitton handbags, into the US.
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) announced on August 16, that the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York had handed down six indictments and one criminal complaint. Of the 22 defendants, 21 were arrested.
The charges include conspiracy to traffic and trafficking counterfeit goods, and conspiracy to smuggle and smuggling counterfeit goods.
According to the DoJ, some of the defendants arranged to smuggle counterfeit goods into the US through the Port of New York/New Jersey and elsewhere. They allegedly used the names, addresses and other information of legitimate import companies and gave fake descriptions of the containers’ contents.
Once the counterfeit goods were imported, they were distributed by truck to self-storage facilities in Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island, New York, where they were stored.
HSI special agent in charge, Angel Melendez, said that the investigation highlighted the global extent of IP crimes.
“This investigation should be a crystal-clear message that counterfeiting and IP rights violations is anything but a victimless crime as it harms legitimate businesses, consumers and governments,” he added.

Source: WIPR