DoJ charges wholesaler in $20m counterfeit army gear conspiracy
The US Department of Justice ( DoJ) has charged an individual with conspiracy to manufacture and sell counterfeit clothing and other goods to the US military and government.
In a complaint filed at the US District Court for the District of Rhode Island on May 21, the DoJ said Ramin Kohanbash, an individual from New York, had conspired to commit wire fraud and had allegedly sold more than $20 million dollars of Chinese-made counterfeit goods to the US military and government companies.
According to the filing, Kohanbash provided samples of actual military uniforms and gear to manufacturers in China to replicate.
The DoJ said Kohanbash, along with co-conspirators, reviewed and approved samples of tags and labels to be attached to the counterfeit products so they appeared legitimate.
“In many instances, this process allegedly involved copying the trademarks and brand names of actual US-made products and adding them to the foreign counterfeit versions,” the DoJ said.
According to the filing, the goods were made in China and then shipped to Kohanbash, who sold them on to wholesalers. These wholesalers then marketed and sold the counterfeit goods to military and government companies as genuine US-made products.
Kohanbash provided these wholesalers with false certification letters claiming that the goods were made in the US and compliant with the law. Under the US Trade Agreements Act, goods sold to the US army or government must be produced in the US.
Military parkas used by US Air Force personnel stationed in Afghanistan were one of the products which Kohanbash sold counterfeit versions of.
The genuine version of these parkas are made with a fabric named Multicam, a fabric which incorporates specialised technology designed to make the wearer more difficult to detect with equipment such as night-vision goggles.
Allegedly, 200 of these counterfeit parkas, which lacked the Multicam technology, were sold to a US Air Force base supply centre.
Kohanbash also allegedly sold counterfeit synthetic insulation fleeces bearing the trademarks ‘Polartec’ and ‘Primaloft’.
Additionally, counterfeit hoods intended for military and law enforcement personnel were sold with labels that indicated the products were “permanently flame resistant”. In reality, the counterfeit hoods were not flame resistant, the DoJ claimed.
Kohanbash is scheduled to appear before a magistrate judge on June 12, 2019.
Conspiracy to commit wire fraud is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Trafficking in counterfeit goods is punishable by up to ten years in prison.
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