Miyuki Suen, Counterfeit Trafficking, New York 2018

Nike Counterfeiting Scandal Rocks Manhattan Federal Court

In a brazen attempt to deceive consumers, five individuals have been charged in Manhattan federal court with a multimillion-dollar counterfeiting scheme, according to a press release from U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman.

The alleged ringleaders of the operation, Miyuki Suen, 43, Jian Min Huang, 42, Songhua Qu, 54, Kin Lui Chen, 53, and Fangrang Qu, 31, were arrested this morning and are set to appear before U.S. Magistrate Katharine H. Parker today.

Prosecutors allege that the defendants imported hundreds of thousands of athletic shoes from China, affixed counterfeit Nike logos, and sold the counterfeit products in the United States, resulting in an estimated loss of over $70 million.

“The five defendants in this case allegedly counterfeited over $70 million in fake Nike shoes and sold them to buyers on the U.S. market,” Berman said. “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.’”

ICE HSI Special Agent-in-Charge Angel M. Melendez added, “These five individuals are alleged to have been a part of a large-scale counterfeiting scheme, importing nearly a half million pairs of knock-off Nike sneakers. These counterfeiting networks can be both detrimental to our economy and threaten our national security, and HSI will continue to take every measure in investigating and dismantling these organizations.”

The alleged counterfeiters imported at least 42 shipping containers holding an estimated 380,000 pairs of sneakers from China between January 2016 and July 2018. The defendants then added trademarked logos to the shoes, rendering them counterfeit, and stored them in multiple storage units and warehouses in New York City.

Law enforcement agents conducted searches of a warehouse, storage units, and a residence related to this scheme on August 7, 2018, and found thousands of counterfeit shoes, counterfeit trademarks, and machinery to finish counterfeit shoes.

The five defendants each face a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison and are charged with one count of conspiring to traffic in counterfeit goods and one count of trafficking in counterfeit goods.

The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit, with Assistant United States Attorney Daniel G. Nessim in charge of the prosecution.

Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the HSI and the NYPD, thanking U.S. Customs and Border Protection for its assistance.

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