Counterfeiters, Santee Alley, and Organized Crime

By Eric Richardson
Published: Sunday, August 21, 2005, at 10:17AM

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — An article that ran in yesterday’s LA Times makes a throw-away comment that I found interesting. Twice in this piece on Santee Alley they connect counterfeit merchandise to organized crime.

In the last few years, said Acosta, who oversees the Los Angeles Police Department’s Central Division vice squad, downtown Los Angeles has become the nation’s second counterfeit capital — after Canal Street in New York City. And LAPD, he said, has begun finding connections between those fake goods and organized crime.

and…

“But we’re seeing the impact of these acts,” LAPD Asst. Chief George Gascon said. “We forget that if you are purchasing this kind of merchandise, you are engaging in a conspiracy of theft” that can extend to organized crime.

Though this connection is made wider than just counterfeit DVDs, the organized crime connection has been widely talked about there. But is there any reality behind it? Articles that ran Friday on boing boing and Wired News would say no.

Asked to cite actual U.S. convictions involving organized crime, the RIAA and MPAA instead presented a handful of pending piracy cases against warez networks, commercial replicators, a few members of street gangs and a smattering of individual drug dealers – but no John Gotti or Tony Soprano.

“It’s not organized crime families, as in ‘the mob,’” admits Bradley Buckles, head of the RIAA’s anti-piracy unit and former director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. “But large groups engaged in organized criminal activity are involved.”

Interesting reading.



Comments

1
GEORGE writes:

Macias Counsel, Inc. Sues Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior for Malicious Conduct in Santee Alley “Knock-Offs” Case

Last update: 6:46 p.m. EDT Aug. 14, 2008 LOS ANGELES, CA, Aug 14, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) – A malicious prosecution lawsuit against Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior was filed today by downtown Los Angeles shop owners George and Marijeanne Antounian, charging the companies and their attorneys with bringing an unlawful lawsuit against them for selling knock-off products (Antounians v. Louis Vuitton et al, Los Angeles County Superior Court, Case No. BC396340). The malicious prosecution suit alleges that Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, and their respective lawyers knew the allegations of copyright and trademark infringement were not true but continued with the litigation, ultimately forcing the shop to close and the owners to liquidate their inventory. Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior hired a private investigation company, Investigative Consultants, in 2005 to determine whether stores on Santee Alley in downtown Los Angeles were selling counterfeit Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior wallets, purses and other goods. After nearly two years of investigations, the suit alleges Investigative Consultants wrongfully concluded that the Antounians, owners of the Bijou Palace at 1116 Santee Alley, sold fake Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior products. An investigation video showed the counterfeit transactions occurring at adjacent stores and in the alley itself but not at Bijou Palace. “The Antounians’ store, Bijou Palace, sold only costume jewelry and was not in the business of selling purses and wallets,” says Sean Macias, managing partner of Macias Counsel, Inc. in Glendale and lead attorney representing the Antounians. William Salle, co-counsel for the Antounians, says a member of the investigation team, Arianna Ortiz, admitted she provided false testimony in identifying Bijou Palace as one of the stores selling knockoff products. “Ortiz alerted Kris Buckner, president of Investigative Consultants, and lead counsel Janine Garguilo for Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior, of the errors in the investigation reports months before trial, but legal action still proceeded against the Antounians,” says William Salle. During trial in July 2007, Investigator Buckner testified that he never saw handbags, wallets or sunglasses or any Louis Vuitton or Dior items for sale at Bijou Palace. “These were the same items that the Antounians and Bijou Palace were to have allegedly sold,” says Salle. “We understand the plight of companies as they try to protect their brand from counterfeiters,” says Macias, “but doing as they did in this case is unjustifiable. Maybe they wanted to send a message to would-be counterfeiters that they mean business. Instead, Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior succeeded only in destroying a small business.” Co-counsel representing George and Marijeanne Antounian is also Armen Shaghzo of the law firm Shaghzo and Shaghzo. Contacts: Sean Macias, Esq. Macias Counsel, Inc. 425 East Colorado Blvd. Suite 710 Glendale, California 91205 Tel: (818) 265-0025 Fax: (818) 265-0035 Email Contact

Diane Rumbaugh Rumbaugh Public Relations Tel: (805) 493-2877 Email Contact

SOURCE: Macias Counsel, Inc.

# on Aug.29.2008 AT 03:47 PM

Your Comment:

YOUR INFORMATION:

Want blogdowntown to remember you?
Create a user account or log in.

Name:
Email:
URL:
GUIDELINES:
  • Comments should be on the topic of the post or they will be removed.
  • Use the live preview below to see how your comment will look before posting.
  • Keep it civil, everyone. If you're attacking people instead of arguments, or being overly profane, expect your comment to get deleted.

FORMATTING BASICS:

blogdowntown uses Markdown formatting.

_Italics_
__Bold__
<http://url.to.link>
[link text](http://url)

COMMENT:

Preview

Start typing...