Raid Shuts Down Fake Oakley Sunglasses Ring

Stepping up its aggressive pursuit of counterfeiters, Oakley Inc. said Monday that New York police shut down a huge counterfeit sunglasses ring, seizing $19 million worth of fake sunglasses and labeling equipment.

Five people were arrested in the raids, which took place over two days in late November. Brooklyn vice detectives, working with private investigators hired by Oakley, hauled off three 20-foot truckloads of merchandise, including more than 100,000 pairs of phony Oakley sunglasses, a police spokeswoman said.

“We will not tolerate any operation that threatens the integrity of the Oakley brand and the trust our consumers place in our products,” said Link Newcomb, Oakley’s chief executive.

Cheow-Hin Ngan, head of Brooklyn-based Fantasy Enterprises Inc., and four women were charged with trademark counterfeiting, police said. If convicted, they face up to three years in prison and an undetermined fine. Ngan, scheduled to be arraigned before a grand jury today, couldn’t be reach for comment Monday.

Four of Fantasy’s factories were raided Nov. 25 and 26, police said. Among the items confiscated were an undisclosed number of counterfeit Ray-Ban sunglasses, Monte Blanc pens, and printing and engraving machinery.

Oakley didn’t announce the action until Monday because the investigation was continuing, said company spokeswoman Renee Law.

The counterfeit Oakleys were being sold on New York streets for about $10, far below the retail price of the real thing, which ranges from $45 to $250.

Oakley markets its glasses to runners, cyclists and other athletes, boasting that--among other things--they screen out harmful ultraviolet rays and can withstand a shotgun blast at 15 feet.

“If someone buys a pair of [counterfeit] glasses thinking that it’s genuine-article Oakley, they’re putting themselves at risk,” Law said. “And if they send in their product for warranty, but it’s counterfeit, we have to tell them that we can’t help them.”

Oakley attempts to guard against counterfeiting by etching its logo on its lenses.

The New York raid was the second big one this year for Oakley. In April, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies raided Spenser Products Co. of Carson and seized $10 million worth of machinery and about 80,000 pairs of counterfeit Oakleys.

Spenser employed 20 and generated annual sales of at least $1 million, deputies said at the time. The company received fake glasses from Taiwan, then stamped the Oakley name on them.

Also seized in the Carson raid were Oakley hats and shirts, as well as sunglasses and apparel from 17 other consumer-products companies, including Nike, Ray-Ban and Tommy Hilfiger.