Police Seize Over 1,600 Fradulent Yeti Products At Will County Fair, Man Charged
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Florida man was charged after police seized over 1,600 fraudulent Yeti products at the Will County Fair.
According to the Will County Sheriff's Office, concerns regarding the authenticity of Yeti tumblers sold at the Will County Fair were brought to sheriff's deputies' attention on Thursday.
Yeti, the Austin-based company, manufactures outdoor lifestyle products including tumblers, mugs, lids, coolers and several other products.
Will County officials said the deputies contacted a representative from Yeti "who advised that they would send a trained investigator to the fair the following day in order to authenticate the merchandise being sold." Officials said they were told Yeti products are not authorized to be sold at county fairs, festivals, street vendors, or flea markets.
Sheriff's deputies, a Yeti Investigator and a senior special agent from Homeland Security observed fraudulent Yeti products at a booth run by Robin Dana Perry, 72, officials said.
Will County officials aid the senior special agent approached the booth where he purchased two tumblers for $45 and spoke to Perry.
"Some of the information collected by that discussion included Perry showing the agent a fraudulent sign and certificate of authenticity stating he was an authorized dealer," the Will County Sheriff's Office said in a press release. "He stated that he purchases in large volume directly from China, so he can offer a lower price."
Officials said they identified several issues with the products including design, font size, printing color, quality and packaging.
Perry told officials in an interview, "he made $12,000 at the Boone County Fair and had sold the product at county fairs in DuPage, Kendall and DeKalb and had averaged making $900.00 the first two days at the Will County Fair."
Perry said his gross sales were close to $1 million dollars, Will County officials said. Perry also told investigators he used various Illinois addresses to ship the products from China.
Perry was arrested and charged with counterfeit/imitating a trademark. His bond was set at $25,000, which he posted.
Will County Sheriff's Office officials said authorities seized 1,648 Yeti tumblers and boxes of miscellaneous Yeti accessories.