Police Seize Thousands Of Dollars In Counterfeit Items, Arrest 24 At Parke County Covered Bridge Festival

Last updated on Thursday, October 20, 2016

(MANSFIELD) - Indiana State Excise officers arrested 24 people at the Parke County Covered Bridge Festival in Mansfield after tens of thousands of suspected counterfeit items were seized.

Around 10 a.m. Wednesday, officers served 28 search warrants at vendor booths and vehicles at the festival, located at 6560 South Martin Road.

Twenty-four people were arrested on charges of forgery and counterfeiting.

Items seized during the investigation were believed to be imitations of the name brands Nike, The North Face, Ray Ban, Michael Kors, Oakley, Ugg, Adidas, Beats by Dre, Louis Vuitton, MLB, NBA and NFL.

Police say the investigation became with citizen complaints from 2015's festival. Undercover officers worked with agents from Advanced Investigative Services and Continental Enterprises, Inc., who are representatives of the licensed trademarked brands.

"The sale of counterfeit merchandise is a crime that puts consumers at risk and costs the manufacturers of legitimate products millions of dollars annually. Moreover, it is important to ensure the proceeds gleaned from the sale of counterfeit products are not used to finance other criminal enterprises," said Indiana State Excise Police Superintendent Matt Strittmatter.

Police arrested the following individuals:

Xuxiang Yang, 34, of Chicago, IL
Wei Cheng, 59, of Chicago, IL
Huiquan Qiu, 40, of Chicago, IL
Fina Zhang, 47, of Flushing, NY
Lin Xiaoqiong, 27 of Flushing, NY
Yiqiad Wang, 25, Flushing, NY
Xiaomei Ke, 49, Flushing, NY
Jian Chen, 36, of Flushing, NY
Cheng Yu, 47, of Flushing, NY
Chang Wang, 59, of College Point, NY
Na Xing, 29, of Chicago, IL
Michael Barry, 18, Lake Forest, IL
Samuel Pickering, 20, of Burbank, IL
Jarad Wazeen, 22, of Chicago, IL
Guohueshi Shi, 58, of Chicago, IL
Zekeriya Teke, 55, Stroudsburg, PA
Asharf Sailveh, 25, Bridgeview, IL
Chen Long, 26, College Point, NY
Lehni Zheng, 24 of New York, NY
Chong Zhang, 54, White Stone, NY
Chin Mai Ying of White Stone, NY
Xiang Yan Hu, 44, of Stafford, TX
Jian Sheng Chen, 59, Trenton, M
Zu Jing Zhang, 43, of New York, NY

1340 AM WBIW welcomes comments and suggestions by calling 812.277.1340 during normal business hours or by email at comments@wbiw.com

Click here to go back to previous page