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Officials to announce L.A, O.C. counterfeiting business

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By Tom Ragan, tom.ragan@latimes.comFederal officials on Tuesday plan to release details of a counterfeiting and pirating operation that spanned Orange and Los Angeles counties.

An undisclosed Orange County business allegedly dealt in counterfeit and pirated goods. The name of the company will be released Tuesday morning at a news conference by federal law enforcement agents who worked with local law enforcement in the two counties.

Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said on Monday the results of a multi-agency crackdown will soon be revealed to the general public.

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“This was big,” Kice said. “But right now, I can’t say much other than there’s going to be plenty of information forthcoming at our press conference on Tuesday morning.”

The conference takes place at 10 a.m. at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Office.

There, more than a half-dozen names of those who have been arrested in connection with the schemes in Orange and Los Angeles counties will be revealed, Kice said.

She said the goods that were seized amount to “millions of dollars worth” of merchandise, ranging from athletic shoes and designer jeans to watches and cell phones.

The Phoenician Stone, a decorative stone and mantel retailer in Corona del Mar, is not one of the Orange County businesses in this bust, Kice said.

The store, located on East Coast Highway, was searched earlier this month. Its owners, grandchildren of the original owner, were handed a search warrant.

The warrant in that case is sealed and no details can be released yet, Kice said.

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