A Prolonged Island “boutique” owner was nabbed with extra than $40 million in faux designer products — element of an illicit cache she peddled all around the nation, authorities said Tuesday.
Lindsay Castelli, 31, of Smithtown marketed faux Gucci, Chanel, Prada, Dior, Ugg, and Louis Vuitton knockoffs to scores of unsuspecting customers through internet sites and her retail outlet, officers said.
Nassau County detectives recovered 22 printing presses at the keep that have been employed to create “thousands of synthetic warmth-sealed counterfeit labels,” which Castelli would then attach to the low-cost apparel items right before jacking their value way up, law enforcement stated.
“A straightforward $10 sweatshirt, you set the Chanel model on it, it sells for $5,300,” Nassau County Law enforcement Commissioner Patrick Ryder mentioned at a push conference.
“They would just take a hat, a $3 hat, a 50-cent merchandise on the facet. They would heat-seal it onto the hat and market the hat for $300,’’ Ryder mentioned.
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly included, “This was not a mom-and-pop procedure.
“This was a refined procedure functioning two manner products organizations, Christian Salvatore New York and Linny’s Boutique,’’ she stated, according to CBS.
Castelli was arrested Oct. 7 soon after a 12 months-and-a-50 %-very long investigation, authorities reported.
Throughout her unlawful operation, “thousands of pounds’’ of haughty hoaxes have been remaining delivered all in excess of the US to unwitting shoppers, authorities claimed.
No a single else was charged in relationship with the huge fraud, officials informed The Put up.
US postal inspectors kicked off the probe at Linny’s Boutique in Plainview in April 2021, and Castelli surrendered to cops Friday, three days following authorities executed a lookup warrant that turned up her humongous stash of fugazis, according to police.
Castelli was billed with 2nd-diploma trademark counterfeiting and released ahead of a November court look, a press release explained.
If convicted, she could encounter up to three several years in jail, prosecutors said.
Her Plainview shop’s web page boasts, “Here at Linnys we hand pick each individual item to in shape the fashion needs of all our babes!
“We stay ahead of the fashion traits to make sure you are always wanting your most effective!” it adds.
Some of her clients ended up furious at being duped.
“Totally betrayed — you go in expecting that you’re getting as advertised and that you are buying quality,” shopper Carole Rutkovsky explained to ABC.
Nassau County Govt Bruce Blakeman said, “This is some thing that we do not tolerate in Nassau County.
“We want individuals to know just what they are receiving,’’ he claimed, in accordance to CBS. “We want firms close to the earth to know that we shield their trademark and service mark right here.”
US Postal Inspector Glen McKechnie stated, “Not only did she cheat the retail field, but she also cheated postal clients that have to in the long run shoulder the pricey burden.’’