Arrests Made Over Alleged Perfume Counterfeiting Conspiracy in New York
Five men accused of importing and peddling fake perfumes face several charges, said ICE in a news release (here). Among other charges, Patrick Badal, Kaium Shah, Kenny Ni, Abul Kashem, and Parvez Shazzed "are each charged with one count of conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods and one count of trafficking in counterfeit goods, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison," said ICE. The conspirators "allegedly imported generic liquid fragrances from China, separately imported boxes and packaging bearing counterfeit trademarks from China, packaged the generic liquid fragrances into the branded and trademarked packaging, and then sold counterfeit perfumes to wholesalers in New York and at least six other states," said ICE.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
ICE's Homeland Security Investigations and the New York Police Department surveilled the accused and observed shipping containers at Port of Newark transported to a bonded warehouse in Elizabeth, New Jersey, it said. Once released by CBP, "members of the Counterfeit Perfume Ring arranged for the containers to be moved" to a temporary warehouse operated by a trucking company, it said. After packaging and storage, "the Counterfeit Perfume Ring distributed certain of its goods to wholesalers located outside of the New York City area," said ICE. "To accomplish this, the Counterfeit Perfume Ring used" a freight forwarder "to pick-up pallets of goods from the Storage Facility. The [forwarder], in turn, delivered parcels to out-of-state addresses. In addition to distributing its products out-of-state, the Counterfeit Perfume Ring distributed its products throughout New York City. Shazzed operated one of these locations, a store located in or around Lafayette Street in New York City."