Authorities made an arrest after recovering more than $15 million in counterfeit jewelry following a multi-location search in the downtown Los Angeles Jewelry District, the Los Angeles Police Department said Friday.
Moossa Lari was arrested on suspicion of felony trademark violations, the LAPD said.
Authorities served search warrants in the Jewelry District on Thursday around noon. Investigators conducted surveillance and several undercover purchases, and determined that Lari was a major distributor of counterfeit jewelry nationwide, according to police.
The counterfeit jewelry was tested at the scene and investigators found that the products did not meet U.S. safety standards, authorities said.
The California standard of acceptable lead and cadmium levels are 90 parts per million. The counterfeit jewelry seized during the investigation had levels as high as 200,000 parts per million, according to investigators at the scene.
Investigators also found nearly $58,000 in cash.
The recovered items included counterfeit designer products labeled as Hermes, Gucci, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Rolex, Michael Kors, Cartier, Tiffany Co., YSL, Dior, Calvin Klein, Guess, Van Cleef and Bvlgari.
The investigation was conducted by the Los Angeles Police Department’s Commercial Crimes Division, in collaboration with the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and Custom Border Protection.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Commercial Crimes Detectives at 213-486-5940. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous can call L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or go to www.lacrimestoppers.org.