Justice Department seizes counterfeit sportswear proceeds

The US Justice Department said it has intercepted nearly $900,000 in proceeds from the distribution of counterfeit sports apparel and jerseys from commercial websites.

The DoJ also seized seven domain names of sites engaged in the sale of counterfeit goods. The money was seized from interbank and PayPal accounts.

The seizures were part of Operation In Our Sites, a law enforcement initiative targeting online commercial intellectual property crime, which has targeted online retailers of counterfeit sports equipment, shoes, handbags, athletic apparel, sunglasses and DVD boxed sets since being set up in June 2010.

To date, 758 domain names of websites engaged in the sale and distribution of counterfeit goods and illegal copyrighted works have been seized as a result of the operation, said the DoJ.

According to court documents, investigations by federal law enforcement agents revealed that several subjects whose domain names had been seized in a November 2010 operation continued to sell counterfeit goods using new domain names. 

In particular, the individuals, based in China, sold counterfeit professional and collegiate sports apparel, primarily counterfeit sports jerseys.

“We are working hard to protect American businesses and consumers from the damaging effects of intellectual property crime,” said Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer in a statement.