Arlington cops bust 'bougie' on a budget business selling fake designer logos
ARLINGTON (CBSNewsTexas.com) - The luxury brand logos of Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Givenchy were among thousands of counterfeit patches police say were being made and sold by an Arlington business.
It took days for the Economic Crimes Unit to count the 101,118 individual items they took from Creo Piece, located in an unassuming industrial building directly across W. Division St. from police headquarters.
Using the prices for individual patches posted online, police estimated the items were worth $652,222, including a high-end embroidery machine and another machine used to make heat-transfers that can be ironed onto clothing.
The value of the merchandise elevated the charge of trademark counterfeiting to a first degree felony against owner Oumar Dia. Police arrested the 35-year-old in Dallas County on the one charge last weekend, and he has since bonded out of jail.
Reached at the business Tuesday, Dia said he sold the items to individual buyers who used them for arts and crafts, and liked the popular logos. He denied being involved with manufacturing any counterfeit bags, clothing or shoes, and declined further comment without speaking with his attorney.
Any production of the trademarked logos though is illegal, according to Arlington Police Detective Richard Jablon.
"As long as he's manufacturing and selling it, knowing that this item is counterfeit, it doesn't matter who he sells it to," he said.
Police learned about the business from someone who contracts with companies to protect their trademarks.
An arrest warrant affidavit said a video on an Instagram account for the business showed an embroidery machine in the process of making items with logos from Chanel and Givenchy. An officer was also able to purchase four patches in person from Dia.
Jablon also reached out to the Department of Homeland Security regarding the company, and learned U.S. Customs and Border agents had three different shipments headed to him at his home in Dallas in 2021 and 2022. The items in the packages also violated intellectual property laws, according to the affidavit, and had a retail value of more than $600,000, but Dia never responded to the notice of seizure.
