Police snag bundle in anti-counterfeit sting
Published: Tue, Mar. 06, 2007 03:23PM
Modified Tue, Mar. 06, 2007 03:42PM
E-Mail
Print
tool name
closeSouth Carolina Police confiscated $212,340 in counterfeit apparel during a Saturday raid of a Florence flea market, the office of the South Carolina Secretary of State announced today.
Agents with the Secretary of State's Office and the Florence County Sheriff's Office conducted the sting, in which four people were arrested.
Among those charged with distribution of counterfeit goods and illegal distribution of recordings are Barry Amadou and Mohammed Krubally of Raleigh, Ibrahim Diallo of Atlanta, Ga. and Amos Small of Bishopville, S.C.
More Local & State
The counterfeit merchandise includes clothes, shoes, purses, scarves and wallets bearing false marks of companies and brand names including Coach, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Lacoste, Roca Wear, Nike and others.
Investigators also found DVDs and CDs also being distributed illegally.
The counterfeit items will remain in storage while the Sheriff’s Office awaits a court order to destroy them.
"Counterfeiters are hardened criminals, exploiting consumers, businesses both large and small, inventors and artists and children laboring in sweatshops in Third World countries," said Secretary of State Mark Hammond in a press statement.
Trafficking in counterfeit goods is a felony and carries a fine of up to $25,000 and possibly years in prison, according to Secretary of State's Office.
Distribution of audio and video recordings carries a $250,000 fine and possibly two to five years in prison.
Get it all with convenient home delivery of The News & Observer.
The News & Observer is pleased to be able to offer its users the opportunity to make comments and hold conversations online. However, the interactive nature of the internet makes it impracticable for our staff to monitor each and every posting.
Since The News & Observer does not control user submitted statements, we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted on our website. In addition, we remind anyone interested in making an online comment that responsibility for statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not The News and Observer.
If you find a comment offensive, clicking on the exclamation icon will flag the comment for review by the administrators, we are counting on the good judgment of all our readers to help us.
