Clothing Counterfeiter Charged with $19 Million Sales
A New York man and his co-conspirators were arrested March 7 and charged with conspiracy and trafficking in counterfeit clothing. According to the U.S. Attorney, Abbas Chouman, and his co-conspirators operated a wholesale counterfeit clothing business out of a store in Astoria, New York. The group's customers were asked to pay C.O.D. for their purchases. From December 1, 2004 through September 1, 2006, UPS collected and deposited almost $19 million dollars into the business's bank account from such sales. The Government is seeking to forfeit the contents of the account. The multi-state investigation that led to these arrests was conducted by the FBI, the Virginia State Police, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Henrico County Police Department, the Chesterfield County Police Department and the Richmond Police Department.