Influencer Sentenced to Prison for Selling Counterfeits Using Fame

An influencer who manufactured and sold counterfeit products of famous domestic and international brands, earning over 2 billion KRW, has been sentenced to prison.

The Daejeon District Court Criminal Division 9 (Judge Cha Hoseong) announced on the 19th that A (34), who was indicted in custody for violating the Design Protection Act and the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, was sentenced to 1 year and 2 months in prison.

Earlier, A was specifically indicted in custody by the Patent Office's Special Judicial Police for Technology and Design (hereinafter referred to as Technology Police) and the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office on suspicion.

Influencer A was arrested and prosecuted on charges of manufacturing and selling counterfeit products of domestic and international brands using their own notoriety, ultimately receiving a prison sentence. Photo by Korea Intellectual Property Office

According to the Technology Police, A is an influencer with a cumulative blog visitor count of 14 million on an internet portal, who used his popularity to promote products and attract buyers, selling counterfeit goods through a membership system.

In particular, A is a repeat offender with two prior convictions. In November 2021, he established a corporation for the purpose of selling and distributing counterfeit products, hired employees, and divided roles, thus forming a corporate structure.

He also produced counterfeit products by outsourcing to domestic clothing, footwear, and jewelry manufacturers and wholesalers, as well as overseas local companies.

Using these methods, A manufactured and distributed about 20,000 counterfeit items including clothing, footwear, and jewelry of 58 domestic and international corporate brands such as Chanel, Time, and Ink, earning a total criminal profit of approximately 2.43 billion KRW over three years.

Notably, A enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle by residing in a high-end villa located in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and owning multiple expensive supercars with the proceeds from his crimes. He also flaunted this lavish lifestyle on social networking services (SNS), showing off to the public.

However, A's crimes were uncovered when the Technology Police received a report from one victim company in December last year and launched an investigation. Subsequently, the Technology Police cooperated with the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office to indict A in custody, froze his financial accounts, and seized real estate and bonds to confiscate and preserve all criminal proceeds.

Organizational chart of the corporation operated by Mr. A. Provided by the Korean Intellectual Property Office

The Daejeon District Court Criminal Division 9 stated, "The defendant employed multiple employees to systematically and organizedly infringe on intellectual property rights such as trademark rights and disrupted commercial order."

It added, "Moreover, the defendant continued the crimes despite receiving requests from multiple trademark holders to stop the trademark infringement, and committed additional offenses even during the investigation. However, considering that the counterfeit products were not disguised as genuine and consumers appeared to have purchased them knowing they were trademark-infringing goods, the sentence was determined accordingly," explaining the reasoning behind the sentencing.

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