Media

Jewelry Show Vendors Arrested With Bogus Designer Purses

Release Date: January 25, 2005

Detectives with the Shelby County Sheriff's Office ALERT Squad have charged four people with possessing and selling counterfeit purses at a trade show at the Memphis Convention Center.

“This is another significant development in our attempt to stop the sale of counterfeit merchandise in Shelby County. All segments of the business community suffer when people illegally produce and sell these types of items. Our efforts to combat economic crimes will be on-going through the Detectives in our ALERT Squad,” said Shelby County Sheriff Mark H. Luttrell, Jr.

The ALERT (Area Law Enforcement Retailers Team) Detectives specialize in investigating counterfeit and stolen merchandise. Working with agents from the U. S. Customs Service and other investigators representing the apparel industry, Deputies conducted the raid just before the trade show ended yesterday afternoon. More than 300 bogus purses were confiscated with designer names such as Burberry, Coach, Kate Spade, and Prada. The four vendors arrested are:

Qiang Pei, 38	Jianyi Hu, 30	Ding Zhe, 31	Arjun Shah, 30

The four, who told investigators they are from the Dallas,Texas area, have been charged with Criminal Simulation, a Felony.