Distributor Arrested for Selling Counterfeit Designer Jewelry NR19305ti

On November 7, 2019 around 12 p.m., the Los Angeles Police Department's Commercial Crimes Division, Intellectual Property Crimes Unit (IPCU), in collaboration with the Federal Bureau Investigation (FBI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and Custom Border Protection (CBP) served a multi-2 location search warrants in the downtown Jewelry District. Investigators conducted several undercover buys, surveillances and determined the suspect was a major distributor of counterfeit jewelry nationwide. The counterfeit jewelry seized were tested at scene and did not meet United States safety standards. The United States standard of acceptable lead and cadmium are 90 parts per million (PPM). The counterfeit jewelry seized during the investigation tested as high as 200,000 PPM.

Officers recovered approximately $58,000.00 in cash and over $15,000,000.00 in counterfeit jewelry with Street value of over $1,000,000.00. Counterfeit jewelry recovered included Hermes, Gucci, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Rolex, Michael Kors, Cartier, Tiffany Co., YSL, Dior, Calvin Klein, Guess, Van Cleef, and Bvlgari.