MINEOLA, N.Y. – Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced the arraignment of a Queens man for selling fake designer handbags out of his New Hyde Park shoe repair store.
Edik Yakubov, 56, was arraigned yesterday before Judge Maxine Broderick on one count of Counterfeiting in the First Degree (an E felony). The defendant was released on his own recognizance and is due back in court on August 14. If convicted, he faces a maximum of one and a third to four years in prison.
“Knockoff products can pose health and safety threats, damage reputable brands, and those who sell them frequently cheat the public by evading taxes,” DA Singas said. “My office will continue to protect that taxpayers and law-abiding businesses through our aggressive pursuit of counterfeiters operating in Nassau.”
DA Singas said beginning in April 2018, following a tip, a joint investigation with the NCDA and NCPD was started on the defendant’s store, Ral’s Shoe Repair in New Hyde Park. The investigation found that the defendant was allegedly buying designer counterfeit Louis Vuitton and Michael Kors handbags for $25-$30 from a supplier and would then sell them to customers for $45.
At the time of the defendant’s arrest on June 19 by members of the NCPD’s Asset Forfeiture and Intelligence Division, approximately $300,000 worth of counterfeit handbags and several counterfeit watches were seized from the store. An expert on intellectual property and luxury goods determined the products were counterfeits
Assistant District Attorney Melissa Scannell of DA Singas’ Rackets and Enterprise Crime Bureau is prosecuting the case. The defendant is represented by the Legal Aid Society.
The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless found guilty.
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