The Los
Angeles County Sheriff’s
Department’s CAPE Team
worked side by
side with The
Intellectual Property Rights
Group from HSI
and served warrants
at multiple locations
in Los Angeles
and Montclair.
IC Investigators
had identified a
group of individuals
that were operating
a counterfeit ring
distributing counterfeit clothing
and luxury goods.
Investigators had learned
the subjects were
operating a warehouse
in Downtown Los
Angeles and were
storing additional goods
at a public
storage facility in
Montclair.
One of
the subjects was
selling counterfeit goods
at a local
swap meet and
maintaining a low
profile, leading many
to believe that
she was just
a small time
swap meet vendor,
however the truth
was that she
was part of
a major organization
and just used
the swap meet
as a means
to develop additional
wholesale customers.
Counterfeiters are
not always who
they “appear” to
be. Over the
years, we have
seen counterfeiters do
a great job
at masking who
they really are
and how deeply
involved they really
are in the
counterfeit trade.
Federal agents
were able to get an
introduction into one of the
master minds of
the organization and
they were able
to identify the
counterfeit network and
where they had
stored all their
counterfeit goods. Federal
search warrants were
obtained and served
at all the
locations involved in
the counterfeit ring.
The search
lead to the
seizure of over
a million dollars
in counterfeit goods
and the arrests
of the two
primary subjects. One
of the subjects
had multiple prior
state convictions for
trademark counterfeiting and
was eventually sentenced
to two years
in federal prison
and he will
likely be deported
after he serves
his time. The
second subject was
also convicted and
sentenced to a
year in federal
custody.
This case
was a great
example of federal
and state agencies
working together to
take down a
major organization.
Kris Buckner, Investigative Consultants
