Man Arrested in Green Bay
This tale, reported by Green Bay Press, describes a scenario not atypical as far as counterfeiting investigations go. According to the paper, Herman Thomas has been charged with two counts of trafficking in counterfeit marks and two counts of possession of recordings with an undisclosed manufacturer following an investigation commenced by Gary Smith, a retired Green Bay police captain turned private investigator. The official investigation began after Smith informed police that he and other investigators had purchased counterfeit Nike shoes from Thomas's store. Smith's investigation, in turn, had been instigated by Nike which asked him to look into the sale of fake Nike shoes in Wisconsin.
Working with another (female) investigator, Smith bought Nike shoes from Thomas's store in September 2006 and sent them to Nike for confirmation they were counterfeit. After this was
reported to the police, they had the female investigator return to the store in February 2007 wearing a hidden video camera. Thus wired, she purchased a pair of counterfeit shoes and had clerks copy four movies onto DVDs for her.
Police went back to the store with the same private investigator some ten days later, purchasing shoes and a Prada purse. On March 13, police and the investigator returned and bought Timberland boots, a Louis Vuitton purse and several movies. After this buy, they raided the shop, seizing hundreds of Nike shoes, as well as Timberland boots, purses, music CDs and movies. The seized items were then examined by Smith who determined, based on training he had received, that they included 241 pairs of counterfeit Nike shoes and 31 pairs of counterfeit Timberland boots. Another investigator was brought in to identify 441 pirated music CDs and 181 pirated movies.
According to the article, in an interview with police, Herman told detectives that he had obtained the seized items "from a guy named 'Ram' out of New York and denied that they were counterfeit." There was, however, no mention of a white van.