Siblings Caught Smuggling and Selling 'Special S-Class Fake Bags'... Porsche and Others Seized

A brother and sister in their 30s who have been forging scarce luxury brand items and selling them to the wealthy were caught by customs authorities. The siblings are suspected of receiving pre-orders and payments domestically, then forging the ordered goods overseas and importing them into the country via international mail to deliver to buyers. Provided by Korea Customs Service

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] A group involved in smuggling and supplying top-grade counterfeit bags to the wealthy has been caught in a customs crackdown. Customs authorities have seized and preserved three vehicles, including a Porsche, to recover the criminal proceeds of the group.

According to the Korea Customs Service on the 7th, the Seoul Regional Customs Office recently arrested siblings A (38) and B (36, female) on charges of violating the Customs Act, Trademark Act, and the Act on the Regulation and Punishment of Criminal Proceeds Concealment.

A and others are suspected of directly manufacturing counterfeit luxury bags and jewelry worth approximately 29 billion KRW at overseas factories, then importing and illegally distributing them domestically.

During this process, A resided in China and acted as the smuggling mastermind, while B has been operating a membership-based counterfeit goods sales website since 2015, taking pre-orders and payments to distribute ordered items.

The structure involves smuggling counterfeit products of famous luxury brands made overseas into the country via international mail (EMS) or express cargo and distributing them in the market.

Mr. A siblings' special S-grade famous luxury goods distributed in the market were seized and preserved during a customs crackdown. Photo by Korea Customs Service

In particular, A and others operated blogs and online communities targeting wealthy women such as active doctors and university professors, selling H-brand handbags (genuine price about 110 million KRW) for 13 million KRW, which are difficult to purchase domestically. They lured buyers by offering rare top-grade counterfeit products.

To evade investigation, they showed meticulousness by opening separate accounts to receive sales proceeds and repeatedly withdrawing cash to conceal criminal proceeds.

It was also revealed that they led a lavish lifestyle by purchasing three luxury foreign cars, including a Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, and Land Rover, with income earned from selling counterfeit luxury goods.

Accordingly, Seoul Customs seized blogs, online communities, and counterfeit manufacturing equipment on-site to secure evidence, and took measures to seize and preserve three vehicles and bank accounts to recover the criminal proceeds obtained from selling counterfeit goods.

A Seoul Customs official stated, “We plan to continuously crack down on the smuggling of counterfeit goods infringing on domestic and international famous trademarks and on products sold online and offline.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.