Sandhills store sold counterfeit Coach, Prada, Kate Spade purses

Dig deep enough into the Kate Spade website, and you’ll pull out a warning about knock-offs:“Authentic Kate Spade products are not sold at ‘purse parties,’ flea markets, by street vendors, in New York’s Chinatown neighborhood or Santee Alley in Los Angeles.”Add to that list: the Classic Coyote in Arnold, population 600.Homeland Security agents this month are on the verge of destroying more than 1,000 purses, wallets, bags, belts, scarves and sunglasses– all of it counterfeit Coach, Burberry, Dior, Dolce and Gabbana, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Oakley and others.And all of it seized from a storefront boutique on the edge of the Sandhills.“The store appeared to be well known in the surrounding communities, and once we were made aware, we opened the investigation,” said Shawn Neudauer, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.The investigation led undercover agents to the Classic Coyote in February 2010. The owner, Deborah A. Pittman, sold them a Coach watch and Kate Spade purse– both later determined to be fakes.Two months later, federal agents returned, seizing more than 1,000 items and 600 counterfeit tags and labels.“The items originated in China, but we weren’t able to locate the supplier,” Neudauer said.And Pittman ended up in federal court, facing a pair of counterfeit-related charges that could have put her in prison for 20 years and saddled her with $4 million in fines.

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