A couple from Serbia — a 45-year-old man and a 40-year-old woman– with the assistance of a Greek accountant set up a business selling knockoff merchandise in the Greek market. The fraudulent business generated big profits for the couple. Even the most “experienced” eye could not tell the difference between the copies and the original products.
According to Greek newspaper “Ethnos,” the three members of the gang were arrested after a long investigation by the Greek police. Police departments of Italy and the U.S. also contributed to the arrest.
The 45-year-old man was buying the counterfeit products, imitations of handbags and accessories of famous designers from Asia and transferred them to the headquarters of the illegal business located in Glyfada, a southern suburb of Athens.
The counterfeit merchandise, such as handbags, scarves, belts, shoes, bore a really close resemblance to the genuine ones and authenticity cards with serial numbers were also included. The price for each bag for instance, ranged from 1,000 to 8,000 euros.
The three members of the gang, however, did not stop there. They expanded their business and started selling their products on the internet by publishing ads on legitimate fashion websites. They even wrapped the knockoffs in the same way as the genuine products and delivered them using shipping companies. The 35-year-old Greek accountant had undertaken the issuing of fake invoices.
Police discovered that the gang had also contacts with the international criminal organization that broke in two factories of a famous fashion designer in Italy and stole authenticity cards as well as handbags in 2012.
According to Greek police, the three people arrested are charged with organized trafficking of counterfeit products.
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