District Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Charge For Trafficking in Counterfeit Goods

            WASHINGTON – Arthur Chan, 31, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to a federal charge involving the sale of counterfeit designer apparel and accessories, announced U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips, Clark E. Settles, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Washington, D.C., and Michael W. Sonntag, Special Agent in Charge, Eastern Field Office, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Office of Inspector General.

            Chan pled guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to trafficking in counterfeit goods. The charge carries a statutory maximum of 10 years in prison and potential financial penalties. Under federal sentencing guidelines, Chan faces a likely range of 10 to 16 months in prison and a fine of up to $55,000. The plea agreement also calls for Chan to pay a forfeiture money judgment of $37,246, which represents the amount of proceeds he generated through the crimes. He is to be sentenced on May 9, 2017, by the Honorable Rosemary M. Collyer.

            According to a statement of offense, signed by the defendant as well as the government, Chan is a resources analyst at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Between November 2013 and March 2016, according to the statement of offense, he used two personal eBay accounts to complete approximately 610 sales of apparel and accessories bearing marks identical with, or substantially indistinguishable from, those registered to Hugo Boss.

            Chan imported all of these items from India to a mailbox he maintained at a UPS store in Lanham or his residence in Washington, D.C. According to the statement of offense, he netted a total of $37,246 from the sale of these items. During the investigation, law enforcement seized a variety of counterfeit items, including 113 counterfeit Hugo Boss wallets; 18 counterfeit Ralph Lauren Polo wallets; three counterfeit Fred Perry wallets; 23 counterfeit Hugo Boss Polo shirts; two counterfeit Fred Perry Polo shirts, and counterfeit Hugo Boss and Ralph Lauren packaging.

            This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Washington, D.C., and the NASA Office of Inspector General. Hugo Boss AG, based in Metzingen, Germany, provided assistance to the investigative team. The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Marando, with assistance on asset forfeiture issues from Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Duvall.