News Releases and Statements

Special agents with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Sunday seized nearly 20,000 counterfeit items with a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of nearly $900,000, at the local Fox Plaza flea market.

Xiang Li, 35, and Chun Yan Li, 33, of Chengdu, China, have been charged by a federal grand jury. Xiang Li was arrested by HSI special agents June 7, 2011, in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands. Chun Yan Li remains an at-large fugitive in Chengdu.

The U.S. ICE-led National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) and the Department of Justice seized more than $896,000 in proceeds from the distribution of counterfeit sports apparel as the result of an investigation into the sale of counterfeit goods on commercial websites.

Collier Bennett Harper is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court Monday morning following his arrest by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents for importing more than 1,000 counterfeit Microsoft Office CD-ROMs and selling them to unsuspecting customers over the Internet.

Jin Zheng, the co-owner and operator of the Asia Gift Shop in Tampa, was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison for trafficking in counterfeit goods, following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

A former Korean law enforcement officer was interdicted at Los Angeles International Airport with $700,000 worth of counterfeit erectile dysfunction pills.

More than 2,500 counterfeit items valued at more than $69,000 were confiscated as the result of a joint operation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI),the Orlando Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff's Office during the 2012 NBA All-Star Weekend in Orlando.

A local man was sentenced on Tuesday to nearly five years in federal prison, and ordered to pay $402,417 in restitution, following his June 2011 guilty plea on copyright infringement, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldana of the Northern District of Texas.

A federal grand jury has indicted Bodog Entertainment Group S.A., d/b/a/ Bodog.com, its owner and three operators for conducting an illegal sports gambling business and conspiring to commit money laundering, following an investigation led by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Across the country, flea markets have become notorious hot spots for selling counterfeit goods. That was the case Feb. 13, when HSI special agents identified vendors peddling counterfeit purses, shoes and jewelry items at a flea market just outside Tampa, Fla.

ICE's HSI-led National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center and the World Customs Organization recently concluded Operation Global Hoax II, seizing tens of thousands of counterfeit and pirated goods at international mail facilities and express courier depots worldwide during a two-month operation that began in November 2011.

A citizen from the People's Republic of China was sentenced Thursday to more than three years in prison following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the Tennessee Highway Patrol - Criminal Investigation Division.

A business owner from Newport Coast, Calif., Mustafa Abdul Aljaff, was sentenced Wednesday to 30 months in prison for conspiring to sell counterfeit integrated circuits to the U.S. military, defense contractors and others.

Special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrested two men Wednesday and seized an estimated $1 million of counterfeit luxury brand jewelry items from a pair of vendors at the Gem and Lapidary Wholesalers show.

Lawrence De Jean was sentenced Wednesday to five years of probation, one year of home confinement, 100 hours of community service and a $3,000 fine after pleading guilty to criminal infringement of a copyright. The case was investigated by special agents with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Nearly $1.2 million of counterfeit goods, including purses, wallets, scarves and perfumes, were seized by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents Wednesday from Jin Zheng. Zheng was previously arrested and indicted for trafficking in these counterfeit goods.

Yonjo Quiroa, 28, of Comstock Park, Mich., was arrested yesterday and operated nine of the 16 websites that were seized. The arrest and website seizures coincide with Operation Fake Sweep, which was announced earlier today in Indianapolis.

Special agents with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrested Naveed Sheikh Tuesday on charges of illegally reproducing and distributing more than 100 copyrighted commercial software programs. Sheikh, who had fled to Pakistan, was arrested by HSI at Dulles International Airport attempting to enter the United States.

Speaking at an NFL news conference on Thursday, ICE Director John Morton, CBP Director of Field Operations in Chicago David Murphy and NFL Vice President for Legal Affairs Anastasia Danias announced the record-breaking results of a nationwide enforcement operation.

In an effort to bolster international partnerships and information sharing on intellectual property crime, the European Police Office (Europol) joined the ICE Homeland Security Investigations-led National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) to become the center's 20th partner agency.

A federal jury convicted Dong Qun Lin on Friday on federal charges related to the trafficking of more than 30,000 DVDs with the counterfeit trademarks of Dolby Laboratory Licensing Corporation, a company responsible for sound quality for DVDs and movies.

Theft of American intellectual property is a serious crime, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and ICE announced today that their vigorous, ongoing efforts to protect America from the trade in counterfeit and pirated goods during fiscal year (FY) 2011 resulted in 24,792 seizures, a 24 percent increase over 2010.

To coincide with the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic held in Philadelphia yesterday, officials enforced counterfeiting laws by seizing fake sports merchandise from international mail facilities and local street vendors.

The National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center led this international enforcement effort targeting the sale and importation of counterfeit and pirated goods.