Nassau DA: Hicksville Retailer Busted With More Than 50,000 Fake North Face Jackets

HICKSVILLE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A retailer in Hicksville, Long Island has been charged with selling counterfeit North Face coats and other apparel.

Haryash Paul, 64, was arrested on Monday and arraigned by District Court Judge Frank Doddato on charges of felony trademark counterfeiting, according to the Nassau County District Attorney's office.

Prosecutor's office investigators, along with U.S Customs and Border Protection agents and other law enforcement officers, executed a search warrant on Monday at a warehouse at 230 Engineers Dr. in Hicksville, prosecutors said.

Investigators seized more than 50,000 jackets bearing counterfeit logos of The North Face, which had been shipped in from Bangladesh, prosecutors said.

The street value of the fake apparel was more than $2 million, prosecutors said.

Paul, who operates Manhattan-based Glamour Line Inc., and is associated with Jericho-based TRB Designs and Resources Inc., prosecutors said. He was arrested at the warehouse, prosecutors said.

Experts say the counterfeit products sell at about one third the cost of the real thing, are of inferior quality, and do not provide the warmth of real North Face jackets. Actual products from The North Face are only sold by authorized distributors and retailers – which Paul's businesses are not among, prosecutors said.

If convicted, Paul faces up to 15 years in prison, prosecutors said.