Maui police arrest
2 in jacket scamHPD estimates that five
to 12 people here could be
selling the Versace knockoffs
Two men on Maui have been arrested in connection with a fake leather jacket scam that victimized more than 50 people in Hawaii. It is similar to other schemes used around the world.
The suspects, ages 41 and 45, were arrested by Maui police 11 a.m. Sunday at the Kahului Airport for possible trademark violation offenses. Police said the two men were scheduled to depart on a plane to California.
According to police, the scam involves the suspects approaching potential customers in store parking lots and telling them they have designer leather jackets by Versace for sale worth thousands of dollars. The suspects told victims that they are in Hawaii for a clothing trade show and are selling the jackets to avoid paying a duty tax if they take the jackets back to Italy.
The victims were usually approached in store parking lots such as City Mill, Safeway, Costco and Home Depot and shown Italian passports and authentic-looking business cards that list the address of the Versace Web site. Last week, Honolulu police said that after media coverage of the scam they believed the suspects took their jackets to Maui where there was one case recorded at the City Mill in Kahului.
Honolulu police said it appears that the scenario is not a new one and has been red-flagged in countries all over the globe in one form or another over the past five years.
Last October, regional police in Toronto arrested and charged six Italian citizens in connection with a similar fake leather jacket scam. The suspects told their victims extra Versace leather jackets from a trade show were available for purchase well below normal cost.
A search warrant issued in that case resulted in Canadian detectives seizing more than 9,000 fake leather jackets bearing counterfeit Versace trademarks. In Hawaii, police said though the suspects described their jackets as Versace, the jackets themselves did not bear the Versace trademark. Instead, victims said, the inside lining of the jackets usually said "made in Italy" accompanied by a "V" symbol.
The same kind of jackets described being seen in Hono-lulu and Maui were also reported in the United Kingdom earlier this year. In May, officials for the Coventry City Council posted an online news release warning of "a well-dressed male who tells consumers that the jackets are left over from a trade fair in Birmingham and he produces a return plane ticket to Italy and hire car documents in a bid to persuade consumers that the jackets are genuine."
"A closer look at the logo inside the jackets and on the packaging does not read Versace but 'V,'" the news release stated.
New Zealand police and the Queensland Office of Fair Trading in Australia also warned of similar fake leather jacket scams several years ago. In 1999 New Zealand police warned of an Italian male who imported a container load of fake leather jackets for a cost of $16 to $24 each. However, New Zealand police said some people ended up paying $250 to $1,000 per jacket.
On the mainland, a Hawaii woman now living in Nevada e-mailed the Star-Bulletin after reading a story about the scam and said her husband was approached in Las Vegas by a man with an "Italian accent and passport" earlier this year who sold him three jackets for $150. Then just last week the same woman said they were approached again by different jacket peddlers with the same story but that this time the couple walked away, the woman said.
Honolulu police estimate that there may be anywhere between five and 12 people selling the fake leather jackets statewide.
People can call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or *CRIME on a cellular phone.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
