Police crack down on designer deceit in O.C.

As part of “Operation Fashion Faux Pas” the federal agents seized more than $200,000 worth of product this week in Orange County during a series of raids that capped a six-month crackdown on local makers of faux brand-name items. Though none of the vendors raided were arrested for hawking counterfeit merchandise, evidence was turned over to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office for possible criminal charges. The six-month effort in Orange County was one of the largest of its kind, and a Homeland Security Investigations official says it marks the start of a series of similar planned crackdowns on the growing crime of intellectual property theft. In fiscal 2011, federal authorities snagged $1.1 billion worth of fake goods, a 24 percent increase from the year before. The dollar figure refers to what the genuine products would have sold at retail. Overall, counterfeiting cost U.S. businesses up to $250 billion last year in lost revenue, according to the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition.”It is everywhere,” says Dan Showalter, supervisory special agent and group supervisor of Homeland Security Investigation’s fraud unit in Irvine. “Anyone can start their own counterfeit business with no overhead … The advent of technology and the Internet is driving this industry.”Counterfeiting isn’t just about money. Although handbags may not apply, many sham items pose safety and health hazards. Counterfeit batteries can blow up a child’s toy. Bogus pharmaceuticals can lead to sickness or worse. And urine is a popular product used for coloring in knockoff perfumes. Up to 80 percent of the counterfeit merchandise is manufactured in China and Hong Kong, federal authorities say. India and Pakistan are other hot spots for manufacturers and suppliers. Such items often wind up in a hot spot for fake product consumption.

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