United States Attorney Anne M. Tompkins Western District Of North Carolina
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn, Jr. sentenced today Ali Fayez Nasrallah, 46, of East Elmhurst, NY, to 46 months in prison for conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods and for making false statements on an income tax return, announced Anne M. Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Judge Cogburn also ordered Nasrallah to pay $623,826 as restitution.
Joining U.S. Attorney Tompkins in making today’s announcement are Brock D. Nicholson, Special Agent in Charge of ICE/Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Georgia and the Carolinas and Thomas J. Holloman III, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI).
According to filed court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, from 2007 to 2010, Nasrallah conspired with others in the Western District of North Carolina and throughout the country to traffic in counterfeit clothing and shoes bearing counterfeit trademarks of numerous manufacturers, including Nike, Gucci, Coach, Timberland, Ralph Lauren Polo, among others. According to court documents and court proceedings, Nasrallah had deposited approximately $8.2 million in various bank account connected with his trafficking in counterfeit goods. On Dec. 2, 2010, agents seized 645 boxes of counterfeit goods worth over $1.5 million from two warehouses operated by Nasrallah in Astoria, NY. Court documents indicate that Nasrallah also falsely stated his business income and taxes owed on his 2008 income tax return.
Nasrallah has been released on bond. Upon designation of a federal facility he will be ordered to report to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.
The investigation is being handled by HSI and IRS. The prosecution for the government was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tom O’Malley and Ben Bain-Creed of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
