Feds announce smuggling bust linked to London
(Mark Hughes from the Independent passed along this press release from London police about a major counterfeit goods smuggling case as the US Attorney's Office here in Baltimore was issuing their own release. This is cross-posted from the Baltimore Crime Beat blog)
Federal authorities in Baltimore announced this morning the arrests of nine people in an alleged multi-million smuggling ring that authorities say imported through the Port of Baltimore counterfeit Coach, Nike, Gucci and Cartier merchandise.
Here is an edited version of a statement from the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office:
Baltimore, Maryland - A federal grand jury has indicted nine individuals, including two Malaysian citizens, four Chinese citizens and three naturalized citizens of the United States, on charges arising from a conspiracy to smuggle into the United States counterfeit shoes, handbags and wrist watches manufactured in Malaysia and China.
“Intellectual property crimes are among the Justice Department’s top white collar enforcement priorities,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “This case demonstrates the impact that we can make with coordinated law enforcement operations that involve our domestic and international partners.”
More details and information from London Police:
According to the 72 count indictment, the defendants contacted individuals, who unbeknownst to them were ICE undercover agents, to import and clear shipments of counterfeit
products into the United States without payment of the required federal taxes and customs duties.
The defendants acted as manufacturers, brokers, middlemen and distributors of counterfeit Nike, Coach and Gucci shoes, Cartier wrist watches and Coach handbags, typically manufactured in Malaysia and China. These goods were shipped to the Port of Baltimore to be “cleared” through U.S. Customs for sale in the United States.
The indictment alleges that on 33 occasions from May 2008 to December 2009, defendants Yong, Yang, Kee, Zhou, Xu, Zhang and Ng directed the shipment of containers of counterfeit goods to the Port of Baltimore. The defendants allegedly directed that the goods be transferred to locations in New York and New Jersey, or had the goods picked up in Maryland. For example, Hsieh, Jaing, Zhou, Ng, Xu and Zhang received some of the containers at locations in Brooklyn, Ridgewood, College Point, Hicksville, Maspeth and New Hyde Park in New York, or Linden and Newark, New Jersey.
The indictment alleges that the co-conspirators, including Yong, Jiang, Xu, Ng and Zhou, paid a smuggling fee, either directly to undercover officers or through electronic transfer. The indictment charges that the co-conspirators often paid an additional amount of money, either in cash or electronically, which was to be “laundered” through the undercover agents. Yong directed that the “laundered” money be wired to accounts in Malaysia or to a company in Asia.
The indictment alleges that at one point, on September 29, 2009, Yong sent a sample of counterfeit “Viagra” pills to the undercover agents hoping to facilitate future sales of the drug. Yong also is alleged to have wired money to the agents on October 27, and December 9 and 17, 2009 for three containers to be shipped to England. Yong allegedly met with ICE undercover agents in London, England on November 4, 2009 to discuss expanding the smuggling of counterfeit goods to England.
As a result of this scheme, the indictment alleges that the defendants illegally smuggled into the United States a total of 120,000 pairs of counterfeit Nike shoes, 500,000 counterfeit Coach handbags, 10,000 pairs of counterfeit Coach and Gucci shoes and 500 counterfeit Cartier wrist watches.
As part of the investigation, City of London Police arrested six suspects yesterday and seized 50,000 items of counterfeit clothing, footwear, handbags and hair straighteners including Nike, Uggs, Gucci, Adidas, Versace, Ralph Lauren and other brand names, and £350,000 in cash during searches at more than 30 locations in the London, England area. London law enforcement believes that the searches resulted in one of the largest seizures of counterfeit goods in England. The arrests resulted from an international collaboration between City of London Police, the UK Border Agency and ICE. The London investigation continues.
City of London Police Commissioner Mike Bowron said, “We have listened to the concerns of the business community which has resulted in a determined international effort to combat an aspect of financial crime which has far reaching implications for UK, the rest of Europe and the USA. By working in close collaboration with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the UK Border Agency we have made a significant break through in this joint investigation”
London Police issued this statement:
The City of London Police, working in collaboration with the US authorities, has made what is believed to be one of the biggest seizures of counterfeit goods in UK history.
Following a long-term trans-Atlantic investigation into a sophisticated international organised crime group, the force yesterday arrested six men in the Greater London area. On the same day the US Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE Baltimore) made nine arrests.
More than 60 officers from the force's Economic Crime Directorate seized approximately 50,000 items of counterfeit clothing, footwear, handbags and hair straighteners during searches at more than 30 premises in the Greater London area.
The multi-million pound haul included brands such as Nike, Uggs, Gucci, Adidas, Versace, Ralph Lauren and GHD. During the searches a total of £350,000 in cash was also discovered.
At a press conference held in Baltimore today it was also announced the nine people arrested in the US had been indicted by a federal grand jury.
In the indictment, the defendants are alleged to have illegally smuggled a total of 120,000 pairs of counterfeit Nike shoes, 500,000 counterfeit Coach handbags, 10,000 pairs of counterfeit Coach and Gucci shoes and 500 counterfeit Cartier wrist watches into the US.
The arrests are the culmination of a money laundering investigation targeting the trafficking and importation of counterfeit goods into the UK and US. This work represents a unique international collaboration between City of London Police's Economic Crime Directorate (ECD), UK Border Agency and US Immigration & Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE).
Initial assessments suggest that a significant criminal network has been disrupted and that officers have made one of the largest seizures of counterfeit goods in the UK. The six people have been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud.