# Massachusetts Police Seize Cache Of Phony Designer Duds



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

*Cape Cod Times *

*(Hyannis, MA) (KRT)*
*
*_via NewsEdge Corporation_

HYANNIS -- The evidence is enough to give a shopaholic the vapors -- dozens and dozens of handbags bearing the labels of design houses like Prada, Gucci and Louis Vuitton.
And sports addicts might feel a tremble or two upon seeing piles of shirts bearing the trademarks of the NFL, the NBA and team logos.

All this and more represent a cache of phony designer goods seized by Barnstable police last week and made public yesterday.

The goods were scooped up from three shops on Main Street as part of an ongoing investigation into the illegal sale of counterfeit trademarked goods, pirated films and illegally duplicated CDs, according to Barnstable police.

"These goods, if legitimate, would have been worth over $117,000," said Sgt.

Sean Sweeney. "They were being retailed at the three stores for a total of just over $24,000."

Three shop owners -- and police say there is no connection between the three -- will face state charges outlawing the sale of items or services bearing counterfeit marks. If convicted, each of the owners could be fined up to three times the price of each one of dozens of phony items, which ranged in price from $6 to $185. In one case that could mean a fine of almost $34,000.

One of the shop owners, David S. Gonsalves of South Dennis, was arrested at his business Urban Apparel, 584 Main St., Hyannis, on Friday during a police search of the premises. He could not be reached for comment yesterday.

An Urban Apparel employee was also arrested on an unrelated marijuana possession charge after they found a quarter-pound of marijuana and scales in the employee's duffle bag at the business.

Gonsalves pleaded innocent Monday in Barnstable District Court to the charge of selling phony trademarked items.

The other two store owners, Ruyter Neves of South Yarmouth, owner of Intercontinental Enterprises, 459 Main St., and Andrew Stanley, owner of Fresh Fashions, 569 Main St., will be summonsed into district court to face the same charge. Neither of them was available for comment yesterday, despite telephone calls to their businesses.

The investigation began last August when an investigator from Powers Associates of Forestdale contacted police to report the sale of phony designer goods in stores along Main Street, said Det. John York, The Cape-based company is often hired by trademark owners in an effort to stop the manufacture and sale of phony trademarked goods.

Coach, a maker of high-end handbags, confirmed yesterday they have used investigator Andrea Powers of Powers Associates in the past. Coach, like many high-end fashion companies, actively campaigns against knock-offs. The company's Web site includes a link for reporting suspected sales and manufacture of fake Coach bags.

Last year Powers played a role when Wellfleet police seized more than 600 suspected counterfeit items, including a phony Kate Spade handbag, from a New York man selling from a van at the flea market in South Wellfleet. She did not return phone calls yesterday.

York accompanied Powers into the stores at least twice and watched as she purchased supposed designer items, he said.

"The price difference between the knock-offs and the originals is big," said York. He pointed to an inventory list from Intercontinental Enterprises where Kate Spade knock-off bags were $40 each. The real bags of the same design sell for $200 a piece. Similarly, a Louis Vuitton knock-off was priced at $60 in the store. The real thing sells for $700.

A police inventory from Urban Apparel indicates unlicensed National Football League jerseys were sold at $60 while authentic NFL jerseys sell for $250 a piece. Similarly, shoes marked with the Nike logo in a style that usually retails for $85, were sold at Urban Apparel for $75.

Jeans marked with the name Seven for All Mankind were sold for $50, while authentic jeans by this label usually sell for $300, said York.

Sales of designer knock-offs and other consumer items is a multi-billion dollar a year business, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. China is the leading producer of counterfeit name brands.

In the first six months of 2005, federal authorities made 3,448 seizures, scoring more than $44 million worth of counterfeit goods, including clothing, handbags, toys, electronics, perfumes, cigarettes, watches and batteries. In all of 2004, federal authorities made 3,693 seizures of counterfeit goods worth over $64 million.

Counterfeit products are sold in otherwise legitimate shops, on street corners and through home-parties, including on the Cape.

But there's more to make super shoppers weep: Once the Cape cases are settled, York said, all the merchandise will be destroyed.

Cape Cod Times (Hyannis, MA) (KRT) --


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