RANCHO PALOS VERDES : Counterfeiter Will Donate Shirts to Poor
Low-income Los Angeles residents may soon be sporting Looney Tunes T-shirts with characters such as Wile E. Coyote, Bugs Bunny and the Tasmanian Devil thanks to a plea-bargain agreement with a local businessman accused of counterfeiting.
Rancho Palos Verdes resident Robert Pae, also known as Song Woe Pae, will donate $100,000 worth of T-shirts and other clothing to the nonprofit Los Angeles-based Shelter Partnership, City Atty. Jim Hahn announced last week.
Pae, 38, a corporate officer of Sung Ji Products Inc., pleaded no contest to a charge of manufacturing counterfeit goods, said Mike Qualls, spokesman for the city attorney’s office. A Municipal Court judge also ordered Pae to pay $3,430 in fines.
An investigation into Pae’s business was conducted by National Trademark Investigations, a company hired by major trademark holders to track down counterfeiters, and the state Department of Justice.
In addition to Looney Tunes T-shirts, counterfeit clothing bearing the names of sports teams was uncovered by the investigation.
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