Fake Air Jordan Sneaker Ring Busted In NY, Feds Say

NEW YORK, NY — Five people who allegedly imported hundreds of thousands of fake Air Jordan sneakers into New York were arrested Tuesday on counterfeiting charges, federal prosecutors announced. The group brought more than 385,000 pairs of knock-off Nike shoes into the New York City area from China, causing a loss of more than $70 million, according to a criminal complaint in the case.

"I commend our law enforcement partners for helping to bring today’s charges, which send a clear message to would-be counterfeiters: 'Just don’t do it,'" Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in a statement.

The five fake sneakerheads — Miyuki Suen, Jian Min Huang and Kin Lui Chen of Manhattan and Songhua Qu and Fangrang Qu of Long Island — allegedly imported at least 42 shipping containers of generic Air Jordan-like shoes between January 2016 and March of this year, according to the criminal complaint.

They then added signature, trademarked logos to the shoes to make them look like the real thing, which go for $190 a pair, the complaint says. The shoes were stashed in warehouses and storage units in New York City and other locations, prosecutors said.

Federal agents found thousands of knock-offsneakers, machines used to finish the shoes and "counterfeit trademarks" when they searched storage units, a warehouse and a home tied to the scheme, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

All five defendants face up to 20 years in prison on charges of trafficking in counterfeit goods and conspiring to traffic in counterfeit goods, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. They were set to appear before a federal judge on Tuesday.

The NYPD and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations were involved in the investigation, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

(Lead image: A pair of Air Jordan sneakers is pictured. Photo by Jonathan Hordle/Shutterstock)