Glendale resident to serve time in prison for counterfeit charge
A Glendale man was sentenced on April 28 to one year in prison for importing and selling counterfeit AMG tire rims out of his store, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Hamlet Ayvazyan, 37, pleaded guilty following his February 2012 arrest when federal agents found 189 fake wheels bearing the AMG marks for several luxury car makes at his business, Speedvision Motorsport, according to a statement released Thursday.
He also kept 2,100 adhesive logos and wheel-center caps that bore markings such as Mercedes and BMW, the release read.
An investigation into Ayvazyan began in January 2012 when U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials inspected an ocean container that had 430 fake rims, according to the statement, and Ayvazyan and Speedvision were listed as the consignee.
Ayvazyan was later found to have been purchased the bogus rims from a Chinese business called “Shandong Chiping Xinfa Aluminous Product Co., Ltd,” which purportedly sold rims for brands such as Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, Porsche and Cadillac.
He was buying each rim for $100 and selling them for $200 each, according to the statement.
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