United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello
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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 23, 2008 WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/CAN |
CONTACT: Joshua Eaton (415) 436-6958 Josh.Eaton@usdoj.gov |
SAN JOSE – United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced that Nancy Tan Pua was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey S. White to 34 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release for charges related to a scheme to sell counterfeit designer merchandise, including handbags, on the Internet auction site eBay and at a storefront in Richmond, California. Ms. Pua pleaded guilty on February 8, 2007 to mail fraud, wire fraud, trafficking in counterfeit goods, and money laundering. According to the plea agreement, Ms. Pua admitted that in about 2000, she began a business of selling women’s “designer” handbags over the Internet, including on eBay. The handbags bore the trademarks of Prada, Gucci, Dior, and Fendi, among others. For most of the time that she ran it, the business operated from her residence in Daly City, CA. Beginning in about 2003, the defendant also owned a store known as “Label Love,” located in Richmond, CA. The products that were sold at Label Love were similar to those that sold over the Internet. Both businesses were in operation until the execution of federal search warrants in July 2004. According to court records, most of the handbags that Ms. Pua sold over the Internet and at Label Love bore the trademarks of Gucci, Prada, Fendi, and Dior, among others. In both businesses, Ms. Pua represented to the buyers that the handbags that they were purchasing were “authentic.” The bags sold were counterfeit. A superseding indictment filed on October 17, 2006, charged Ms. Pua, age 50, of Daly City, California, and her son Kevin Pua, age 29, with conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, trafficking in counterfeit goods and money laundering. Johnny Lee Tan, age 46, Ms. Pua’s brother, was charged with conspiracy and trafficking in counterfeit goods. On December 14, 2006, Kevin Pua pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and to traffic in counterfeit goods. He was sentenced on August 30, 2007 to five years of probation. On February 8, 2007, Johnny Lee Tan pleaded guilty to money laundering charges and was sentenced on August 30, 2007 to 18 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. This prosecution is being overseen by the Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (CHIP) Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Kyle F. Waldinger is the Assistant U.S. Attorney in the CHIP Unit who is prosecuting the case. Further Information: Case #: CR 06-0030 JSW A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can. Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. Judges’ calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court’s website at www.cand.uscourts.gov. All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Joshua Eaton at (415) 436-6958 or by email at Josh.Eaton@usdoj.gov.
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