By Sarina Trangle
The U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn has filed court documents seeking to seize six properties from a Little Neck family charged with running a $10 million counterfeit accessories and apparel ring out of their Cambria Avenue home.
Prosecutors said siblings Chee Kwan Yim, 43; Chee Kuen Yim, 40; Chee Ching Yim, 45; and Regina Ngan, 31, turned their mother’s home, at 249-20 Cambria Ave., into the headquarters for Goodies Enterprise Inc., a business that allegedly imported counterfeit clothing, accessories and shoes from China and hawked the designer knockoffs from Queens to California.
On Dec. 2, the federal government moved to confiscate properties law enforcement officials believe the Yim family and its business associate, Anthony Moresco, 64, used to launder their illicit earnings along with $100,828 seized during raids of the family’s $1.3 million home and safety deposit box at Chase Bank in Flushing.
The civil complaint outlines the government’s claim to the 249-20 Cambria Ave. house as well as 42-34 189th St. in Flushing, 61-12 213th St. in Bayside, 37-32 10th St. in Long Island City and two properties in Florida.
The Suffolk County district attorney’s office arrested the Yim siblings and Moresco in March, after more than two years of monitoring Goodies Enterprise.
Goodies Enterprise allegedly stored counterfeit merchandise in a Queens warehouse and then distributed it to street salesmen in the New York metro area, Florida, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Georgia and California, according to the DA.
The company bought imports cheap and allegedly charged customers dramatically more for the merchandise, the Suffolk prosecutors said. According to the DA, Goodies would spend $2 each on counterfeit leather handbags and market them on the street as Louis Vuitton, Coach, Prada, Chanel or Michael Kors products with $18 to $25 price tags. Goodies Enterprise gear could fetch as much as $100 at “handbag parties” in Long Island homes, the DA said.
Typically, Louis Vuitton bags cost between $1,000 and $4,000.
When detectives raided the Goodies Enterprise warehouse, at 30-60 Review Ave. in Maspeth, this March, they reported seizing enough counterfeit merchandise to fill a tractor-trailer and seven box trucks, the Suffolk DA said. According to court documents, detectives also recovered machinery used to produce counterfeit trade designs along with replica badges, buttons and fashion adornments of several high-end brands.
Goodies Enterprise Inc. funneled its profit into property, mortgage payments and companies controlled by relatives in Florida, according to court documents. Suffolk County DA Thomas Spota said his staff’s investigation indicates the Yim family also invested the money in jade and jewels.
“Records recovered during the investigation … show that millions of dollars in illegal profits were going back to banks in China and investments in real estate in China, New York City, Florida and California,” Spota said in a press release.
A grand jury indicted the Yim siblings and Moresco in March, charging Chee Kwan Yim and Chee Kuen Yim, the alleged ringleaders, with enterprise corruption, trademark counterfeiting, money laundering and conspiracy. The other three suspects received fewer charges.
All five have pleaded not guilty.
Attorneys representing the Yim family and Moresco declined to comment or could not be reached.
Reach reporter Sarina Trangle at 718-260-4546 or by e-mail at strangle@cnglocal.com.
