Counterfeit brand name “Kick it or lose it” yellow boots and “True Faith” jeans involved in $230 million law enforcement officers followed the investigation for a year
U.S. Customs inspectors X-ray contraband entering the United States from Colombia via the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal on March 27, 2002. Many Chinese imports are imported from the Port Elizabeth Marine Terminal in Newark, New Jersey, the busiest on the U.S. East Coast. (Don Murray/Getty Images)
According to the indictment, since January 2019, Kin Lin Wong, also known as Belinda Wong, came to the attention of the New York City Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). She was suspected of importing large quantities of counterfeit “kick-ass” yellow boots (Timberland) and “True Religion” jeans made in mainland China.
“The classic yellow boots are stylish and durable, but their fame and demand have led to a proliferation of counterfeits; different styles of the boots range in price from about $140 to $400. The retail price of the boutique cowboy brand “True Faith” also ranges from $99 to $400.
Law enforcement officials followed the investigation for a year
The incident began on January 7, 2019, when two containers arrived at the Port of Newark-Elizabeth port terminal in New Jersey and Homeland Security Investigations discovered counterfeit designer shoes during a random inspection of the shipment. Specifically, the containers contained 500 boxes of 12 pairs of counterfeit “Kick It” yellow boots, samples of which had been identified as counterfeit by the brand’s rights holder and customs import experts.
Law enforcement officials resealed the container, falsely released it, and placed a GPS tracker into the container, tracking the shipment all the way to a warehouse in South Plainfield, New Jersey. The agents investigated and learned that CC2 had been shipping goods to this warehouse for over ten years. The warehouse manager knew that CC2 imported counterfeit goods and said that this person always put two or three rows of real goods in front of each container to hide the counterfeit goods in the back.
The agents continued their investigation and learned that CC2 also stored counterfeit goods at another warehouse in New Jersey.
On January 25 and 28, 2019, law enforcement agents obtained court warrants to seize 9,564 pairs of counterfeit “kick-ass” yellow boots and 86,208 pieces of counterfeit brand-name jeans at the two warehouses, involving $37 million.
Next, agents discovered that CC2’s counterfeit goods were imported into the U.S. by Company B. Company B’s registered address was in Manhattan, and once the counterfeit goods arrived at the New Jersey warehouse, Company B issued an inventory invoice (inventoried and invoiced) to Company C. The goods were then placed in Company C’s name, awaiting shipment to a warehouse in Brooklyn.
Law enforcement officers then continued their investigation and discovered that Company C was stocking goods in another warehouse under the name of Company D. On February 12, 2019, law enforcement officers obtained a court-approved search warrant and conducted a search of another smuggling warehouse in Brooklyn. A total of $28 million worth of counterfeit branded jeans was seized.
Subsequently, the NYPD, Homeland Security Investigations and the brand owners repeatedly inspected containers importing large quantities of counterfeit “kick-ass” and branded jeans and found that the containers suspected of containing counterfeit goods were all consigned to Company B.
Law enforcement officials found from CBP records that Company B had shipped at least 77 containers from Hong Kong or China to the Port of New Jersey from June 2014 through January 2019, with a shipping address somewhere in Manhattan and a customs declaration for clothing or footwear.
Agents investigating the case estimate that the counterfeit trafficking ring shipped 27 containers of nearly 6,000 pairs of fake “kick-ass” yellow boots each from China and Hong Kong to the United States. If retailed at $190 per pair at authentic prices, the amount involved would be as much as $30 million.
Meanwhile, the counterfeit trafficking ring shipped 50 containers of counterfeit “True Faith” jeans from China and Hong Kong to the United States. If the retail price of each pair is US$200-400, the amount involved is US$200 million.
The agents then investigated the customs declaration documents, layer by layer, and eventually found Wong Kan Lam. She and her husband were found to be smuggling counterfeit boots and jeans, usually under the name of “other ladies’ footwear” or “ladies’ casual shoes”, with a declared value of only US$2.5 to US$3.6 per pair, without informing Customs that the boots or jeans were marked with The “Timberland” and “True Religion” trademarks and hang tags on these boots or jeans were not notified to Customs. The tax evasion in this manner amounted to more than $900,000.
In addition, Wong’s husband passed away in March 2018, but she still used his email and cell phone to communicate with the public, so she was also charged with identity theft by the prosecution.
Recent Comments