Business owner charged in counterfeit purse scam

Most of the parties where the purses were sold took place in the Cleveland area.
CANTON (AP) -- A business owner has been indicted on two counts of counterfeiting, accusing her of making possibly more than 1 million a year by selling phony designer purses.
Cathy DeMeio, 48, of Lake Township in Stark County pleaded innocent to the charges.
DeMeio, owner of Cathy's Closet, is accused of putting counterfeit labels on purses made to look like Coach, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Burberry, Gucci and Kate Spade products. She sold them at house parties, her residence and a storefront in Hartville that had no signs and did business by word of mouth.
"We have a lot of women in the area upset with us, but hopefully we've put her out of business," Uniontown Police Chief Don Hensley said Wednesday.
DeMeio's attorney, Donald Malarcik Jr., said his client felt she was in full compliance with the law and that she advertised the purses were knockoffs.
Police seized about 5,000 counterfeit purses and wallets, 12,000 counterfeit labels, more than 6,000 in cash, watches, jewelry, sunglasses and two vehicles from DeMeio's business and home.
The purses were ordered from China and shipped to New York City before being sent to Uniontown, where DeMeio and her employees are accused of affixing the counterfeit labels, Hensley said.
Most of the house parties were held in the Cleveland area. There were 70 parties scheduled in October last year and sales were about 70,000 for the month, Hensley said.
Tipoff
Local police were tipped off last year when a former employee called to ask whether the operation was legal because she wanted to start a similar business, Hensley said.
Fake purses have emerged as a crime trend in the past several years with sellers being charged throughout the country.
U.S. businesses lose between 200 billion and 250 billion in revenue each year due to counterfeiting, according to the FBI, Interpol and World Customs Organization.