Italian Counterfeiting Ring Peddled $570K In Fake Apple, Dyson Items: Prosecutors

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst police earlier this month arrested four Italian nationals who were selling counterfeit electronics around the suburbs, authorities said Tuesday.

Arrested were Salvatore Derosa, 50; Simone Signorelli, 23; Vincenzo Demartino, 49; and Luca Demartino, 25, all from Naples, Italy, on charges of possession of counterfeit items with intent to sell, with a total value exceeding $570,000, police said.

On May 7, Elmhurst police were called to the 400 block of North Oak Street for a report of a suspicious car.

Police said Signorelli pulled up in a white Kia SUV to a man in his driveway and offered to sell him a counterfeit phone. The resident refused.

An officer followed Signorelli to a house in Glen Ellyn, where all four suspects lived.

While watching the house the next day, Elmhurst police saw Vincenzo Demartino enter a Jeep Compass and drive to Roselle.

There, he spoke with landscape workers, where he offered to sell AirPods for $50 to $60, far under the usual price, DuPage County prosecutors said in a news release. The workers declined.

Demartino then drove to another place in Roselle, stopping next to a parked landscape truck. He tried to sell the AirPods to a worker for $60, but the person refused.

An officer stopped Demartino. After getting permission to inspect the vehicle, the officer found five iPhones, five Apple Watches, 19 Apple AirPod Pros, three Apple battery packs, one Apple iPad, two Apple AirPod Maxes, three Samsung S25 Ultra phones and one Dyson hair dryer, police said.

Demartino was arrested.

Over the next several hours, the other men were arrested individually under similar circumstances after they left their house to sell counterfeit items, police said.

Police said they found more than 750 counterfeit items. They said the items in the cars and the house were valued at $573,000.

"If a deal seems too good to be true, it almost always is," Elmhurst Police Chief Michael McLean said in the news release. "The public should know the Elmhurst Police Department is also working around the clock to catch these offenders in the act. I am proud of the sharp patrol officer who identified the suspect’s vehicle and the Elmhurst Police Investigations Division for their ability to locate the suspects and their base of operations, confiscate hundreds of thousands of dollars-worth of counterfeit products and conduct arrests within a 24-hour period."