13-06-2010
US convicts two in 'enormous' China fake goods import
scheme
WASHINGTON, June 11, 2010 (AFP) - Two New York residents have been
convicted of importing over 100 million dollars worth of fake
luxury goods from China, in what the Justice Department on Friday
11 June called one of the biggest counterfeit cases in US
history.
Chong Lam, 52, and Siu Yung Chan, 42, were found guilty Thursday 10
June by a jury in Richmond, Virginia, on several counts of
importing counterfeit goods from China from 2002 to 2005, the
Department of Justice (DoJ) said in a statement.
In the week-long trial,
evidence showed Lam, Chan and co-conspirators "led a massive
counterfeit goods operation that stretched from China to New York,"
Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer said in the
statement.
The operation involved more than 300,000 fake luxury handbags and
wallets from China under brand names Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Coach, Fendi, Chanel and others.
Lam and Chan "were controlling officers of at least 13 different
companies in the United States and overseas, and operated at least
eight separate factories dedicated to producing handbags, including
enormous quantities of counterfeit bags," it added.
The DoJ said a 2008 raid by the US Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) on Lam and Chan's Coco USA business in lower
Manhattan netted 1,500 cartons of items whose corresponding value
in authentic goods was "estimated to be over 100 million
dollars."
Lam and Chan each face a maximum punishment of 30 years in prison
and 4.75 million dollars in fines when they are sentenced September
15.
"The government is seeking forfeiture of the illicit proceeds of
the enterprise, including funds that the defendants had transferred
to bank accounts in the United States and overseas," the department
said.
"This landmark conviction represents the latest success of ICE in
targeting intellectual property thieves," said ICE Assistant
Secretary John Morton.
The United States and other developed nations have frequently
voiced concerns about widespread counterfeiting in China, believing
it badly hurts companies in their countries.