NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

MATT J. WHITWORTH

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html

MARCH 18, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

INDIAN NATIONAL CHARGED WITH SELLING

COUNTERFEIT PURSES

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Matt J. Whitworth, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an Indian national was charged in federal court today with trafficking in counterfeit Coach purses and wallets.

Navin Chandra Patel, 38, a citizen of India who was working as the manager of a Springfield, Mo., convenience store, was charged in a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Springfield.

According to an affidavit filed in support of today’s criminal complaint, Patel was selling purses and billfolds bearing the Coach trademark at the Star Mart at 3905 W. Chestnut Expressway in Springfield. The items were being sold at prices well below the market value of authentic Coach products.

An agent of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement seized 14 counterfeit purses and four counterfeit wallets from the store. Patel was arrested, the affidavit says, after the ICE agent determined that he had provided a false identification document to conceal the fact that he was illegally present in the United States.

Whitworth cautioned that the charge contained in this complaint is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael S. Oliver. It was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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