Gang arrested for selling fake luxury goods overseas
Fifteen suspects have been arrested for allegedly running websites selling fake luxury goods to customers overseas, police said on Tuesday.
Hundreds of thousands of goods are thought to have have been sold, raising over one billion yuan (US$150 million) to duped consumers in over 800 cities in 47 countries, police said.
The gang, which established a foreign trade company in Shanghai, allegedly sold the fakes through 35 websites in English and Spanish hosted at servers overseas.
The forged goods were purchased in Guangdong and Fujian provinces and shipped directly to the buyers.
Suspects, including those sourcing the fakes, customer service agents, the sales and technical teams, were caught in 17 locations in Fujian, Guangdong, Hubei and Shanghai on May 3.
Police raided the home of one of the suspects in Shanghai on May 3.
During the raid, police said they discovered over 10,000 pieces of fake luxury bags, clothes, shoes and mobile phone cases.
Apart from the 15 arrested, six others were put on bail, police said.
The major suspects in this case all have university degrees and speak rather good foreign languages, and one of them even has a Master’s degree on business management earned in a foreign country, according to the police.
