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How Customs & Border Pro­tection catches coun­terfeit products coming into the U.S.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Thousands of people cross the Canadian border from New York every day. There are 16 border crossings across the state that are all hot spots for counterfeit products to make their way into the U.S. economy.

“We liken it to looking for a needle in a needle stack. Actually, that's how difficult it is,” said Kevin Corsaro, watch commander for U.S. Customs and Border Protection said.

What You Need To Know

Thousands of people cross the Canadian border from New York every day through one of the state's 16 border crossings

Counterfeit products are becoming more common across the border and it's taking a toll on our health and safety, as well as the U.S. economy

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents are trained with manufacturing companies to keep a close eye on the details that can differentiate real and counterfeit products crossing the border

The most common counterfeit products are apparel, perfumes and electronic goods

Earlier this month, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported that an Ontario importer pleaded guilty to trafficking $4.2 million in counterfeit merchandise from approximately Oct. 2016 to Aug. 1, 2017, and those costs come out of companies' revenues that make everyday products more expensive

Earlier this month, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported that an Ontario importer pleaded guilty to trafficking $4.2 million in counterfeit merchandise from approximately Oct. 2016 to Aug. 1, 2017. That process starts with a close eye used by trained agents at the border who know what to look out for.

“On the primary line, our officers are basically interviewing the driver and reviewing the paperwork," Corsaro explained. "If there's inconsistencies in the paperwork, they will refer that truck to the secondary area for an exam. And then from there, they're looking for any merchandise that's either unmanifested or any merchandise that may be counterfeit. Obviously, any illegal narcotics or any illegal substances that are in the truck that are being illegally smuggled into our country."

But as counterfeiting becomes more frequent, so does the cost of goods, which ultimately continues the cycle.

“It happens, often. Actually, it happens, maybe not on a grand scale, like in a large container,” he explained.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection sees about 3,000 trucks crossing the border every day. That’s where they find the most counterfeit goods at the border by land. Although, they can also be found via air and train travel, as well as in postal services.

“We interdict products that we suspect to be counterfeit," said Gaetano Cordone, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s port director for the Buffalo area. "And we have strong relationships with the trade community. To talk to some of these companies and explore some of the products that we encounter and then make the determination as to whether or not it's a legitimate or something that's counterfeit, and that we actually need to seize."

Counterfeit products are most common in apparel, perfume and electronic goods, so agents have a working relationship with many brands to be trained on how they create the product, and how agents at the border can spot the differences.

“So the stitching here is not even across the cap here. So this actually starts to tell away and go low and then back high again. So this is not something that New Era would endorse and produce on their end, as well as the sturdiness of this cap. When you purchase these caps, they're a lot more firm than this. They're not falling as this cap is doing here,” Cordone showed. “We have things like these counterfeit jerseys here. They're labeled by Nike. But again, this is not a product that Nike would normally manufacture with this poor stitching. The labeling, the letters, not all of it being situated in the right fashion."

Items displayed are only about 5% of what they’ve seized so far this year.

“Some of it is folks just don't want to pay the top dollar for legitimate and noncounterfeit items," Cordone said. "So it's much cheaper to purchase these products at a lower price. But in doing so, they don't realize some of the unintended consequences that occur from that, as well as some of the harmful impact to the economy and to trade and certain health risks as well."

Health risks could apply to counterfeit perfumes or colognes. In many cases, they say, these counterfeit products are not made in an FDA lab, so the products could be made from harmful bacteria when applied to our skin.

“If they're not manufactured in a safe way, someone buys these Christmas lights online and then they put them up at their house, and then they can actually be a fire hazard in their home," he added.

However, he says the impact counterfeit products are having on the U.S. economy can be considered most impactful.

“If we're purchasing counterfeit goods, then the legitimate companies, in order to be able to make up the revenue loss, they are then increasing their prices. They have to increase their prices in order to continue to compete and make up for the revenue loss of the millions and billions of dollars that they're losing as a result of these counterfeit products being so,” Cordone explained. “Folks may ask themselves, 'Why does this matter? Why does it matter if I want to save a couple extra dollars to purchase a counterfeit jersey?' It does matter. The implications are significant. Some of these counterfeit products are produced through forced labor. Others are used to support the illegal drug trade. We're a week from Sept. 11. Some of these support, you know, transnational criminal organizations and terrorist organizations. So it has that negative impact on the economy and the businesses in the United States. So when folks are trying to maybe save a dollar, sometimes they have to take a step back and think about the other impacts, not just to themselves, but to our folks and the businesses in this community."

Cordone says that Louis Vuitton reports a $1 billion loss of revenue on an annual basis as a result of manufactured counterfeit products. The agency has also found dozens of counterfeit Super Bowl rings and high-end designer products. Its most expensive counterfeit catch so far this year was a watch that’s estimated at more than $1 million in value if it was real.

"If it's a Josh Allen jersey and you're getting it for $25, it's likely that it's probably counterfeit,” Corsaro said.

“This is just a small snapshot here for Buffalo. So I mean we have containers and containers of this stuff coming in through our ports of entry across the country,” Cordone said. “We encourage folks that when they're purchasing something online and it seems like the price is too good to be true, most likely that's accurate. It probably is too good to be true, and most likely is counterfeit."

As trends continue, and costs increase, the consequence can end up on the consumer.

“If we're purchasing counterfeit goods, then the legitimate companies, in order to be able to make up the revenue loss, they are then increasing their prices," Cordone said. "They have to increase their prices in order to continue to compete and make up for the revenue loss of the millions and billions of dollars that they're losing as a result of these counterfeit products being so."

USCBP says if consumers feel they’ve purchased something that may be counterfeit, if there is incorrect spelling on a product, or if the size or font is different, or packaging is poor material, they have the opportunity to report it to Customs and Border Protection at cbp.gov.

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Brighton bookkeeper stole £1m to fund Belize property empire

A trusted book-keeper stole more than £1 million from her employer to fund a property empire, including a luxury home in Belize she planned to retire to.

Louise Gow, 64, diverted up to £200,000 a year from Smuggler, an award-winning video production company – simply by putting her own bank account details on the invoices she was paid to process.

As colleagues were being laid off or asked to take pay cuts during the pandemic, she increased the amount she diverted into her own pocket.

When confronted – via a videocall as she visited Belize – she admitted stealing a couple of hundred thousand, and finally the £1,116,82.05 it was discovered she had taken over five years, blaming the menopause.

Now, after being jailed for 44 months last week, she is beginning her retirement behind bars.

At a hearing at Lewes Crown Court last Wednesday, Judge Mark van der Zwart said: “Your thefts have enabled you to build what seems to have been a substantial portfolio of homes, including a large luxury home you planned to retire to in Belize.

“During the covid era when valued members of staff were laid off and everybody in the company took a pay cut, your helping yourself to the company funds seems to have increased.

“You seem to have been surprised when the managing director Fergus Brown made a report to the police. You were planning on continuing to steal for longer until you had taken enough.

“You returned to the UK when you could have stayed in that country and contests attempts to extradite you.

“You sought to blame the menopause and to reframe your actions as a way of providing employment to people in poorer parts of the world.

“The menopause can provide an explanation for why peole behave in ways different to how they behaved before.

“But it cannot amount to justification for spending five years plundering the resources of your trusted employer, funnelling the proceeds into your property empire.��

In a victim impact statement read out in court, Mr Brown said Gow had been a trusted member of staff since he founded Smuggler in 2008.

He said: “She used her position of power and authority to steal large amounts of money from us and to fund a luxury lifestyle for her and her husband.

“It limited our growth. We lost a material amount of money that would have been used to grow our company.

“Her assistant took the theft very badly. She thought they were friends. It has affected her trust. She was very hurt by the situation and has no one to speak to about what has happened.”

Prosecuting, Rio Pahlavanpour said her deception began to unravel on 29 April 2021, when Barclays contacted Mr Brown saying someone was trying to transfer money to Smuggler Ltd was using the wrong account number.

Gow initially tried to explain it away as an innocent mistake, but then Barclays found more and more examples. Gow was eventually charged with fraud by abuse of position between July 2016 and May 2021.

Mr Pahlavanpour said the Crown would not be making an application under the Proceeds of Crime Act as a civil case was in progress to recover the funds.

Defending, Caroline Stewart said: “There was an intention to put it all back but she was never able to do that. when it was brought up she did admit responsibility.

“She was in Belize, in a remote meeting when that admission was made and she returned to this country knowing that there would be some serious consequences.”

She added: “She doesn’t understand how she could have done something so stupid and self destructive.

“She has thrown away her longstanding career, her marriage – she’s now divorced. The esteem those who knew her held her in, her career – it’s all gone.”

Gow, who now lives in St Albans, was declared bankrupt in February. A receiver has now been appointed in the civil case to recover funds.

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Crypto Scammer Sean Kirtz Arrested For Animal Torture In Boca Raton

Kirtz Ordered To Pay $405K In Crypto Suit, Then Sued By Local Real Estate Firm. Now Animal Torture Arrest.

BOCA RATON, FL - Boca Raton resident Sean Kirtz is facing an animal torture charge following his arrest by Boca Raton Police on Wednesday. Kirtz, of St. Andrews Blvd., was booked into jail at 11:49 on Wednesday morning. He was released on $3,000 bond just before 2 a.m. Thursday.

Kirtz, in late 2021, was accused of not taking care of “Isabella,” a dog described as a “black/brown juvenile Australian Shepherd mix,” after a babysitter discovered the animal in poor condition and took it to Boca Veterinary Clinic. The clinic reported Isabella’s poor condition to Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control which initiated procedures to take custody of the animal.

According to a court filing: “Dr. Ana Poeck, DVM, testified that she examined Isabella (aka Izzy) on December 15, 2021. She testified that Izzy was underweight, unkempt, she had an ear infection, she had scabs on her face and head, had bruising in her groin area, and had wounds on her body. Dr. Poeck testified that Isabella was in, “all kinds of discomfort.” Isabella was very thirsty and hungry; she drank a whole bowl of water in the clinic and readily ate all the treats offered. Dr. Poeck testified that it was very unusual for a well-cared for pet to be that thirsty and hungry. Most of the diagnostics and medications suggested by Dr. Poeck were declined. Dr. Poeck testified that she called Mr. Kirtz but he did not seem interested in speaking to her.”

“On December 26, 2021, Officers from ACC responded to Mr. Kirt’s home located at 20913 Saint Andrews Boulevard, Boca Raton, Florida 33433 in response to the complaint. ACC Officer Mitchell testified that he and Officer Arguelles inspected Isabella and noted that she had obvious wounds on her arms, legs, and back. Mr. Kirtz did not know what was wrong with Isabella and wasn’t able to provide any veterinary records showing medical care for her.”

Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control took Isabella and has nursed her back to health. On February 7th, Palm Beach County Judge Edward Garrison entered an order prohibiting Kirtz from possessing animals. Read the complete order, below. It was not immediately clear if Kirtz’s arrest on Wednesday is part of this ongoing case, or a new matter now being prosecuted. We will update with the arrest report once it is released.

Sean Kirtz was accused of running a Crytpo Currency scam in 2018 and ordered by a federal judge to pay $405,000 to a disgruntled investor. He was subsequently sued by “Florida’s Best Realty Services” after allegedly posting negative reviews when the company claimed he frauduently filed a lease application.