$2,2M to ROLEX.

[Luthier 1]

Watch counterfeiter gets prison, ordered to pay Rolex $2.2 million

 

Sunday, March 15, 2009 9:52 AM EDT

By KEITH PHUCAS

 

An Elkins Park man has been sentenced to six years in prison for making and selling thousands of counterfeit watches he assembled in the basement of his house.

 

Binh Cam Tran, 52, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge John Pedova in Philadelphia and ordered to pay $2.2 million in restitution to watch-maker Rolex, according to IRS spokesman Skip Bedics.

 

"Basically what he was doing was importing watch parts and assembling them at home and selling them in New York City," he said.

 

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Foulkes, Tran was indicted by a grand jury in 2006, and last October pleaded guilty to counterfeiting, smuggling and money laundering and other offenses.

 

Foulkes said the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service had detained Tran in 1993 at Los Angeles International Airport, when agents discovered he brought in parts for watches, but he was apparently not arrested at that time.

 

"He claimed he just had them for friends," she said.

 

Though the man promised to change his ways, Foulkes said, instead he became more criminally sophisticated.

 

In 1997, Rolex hired an investigator who began tracking the Montgomery County man, and a few year later, federal agents got a search warrant and raided his home.

 

"There were 22,000 completed fake Rolex watches in the house, and gobs of cash," Foulkes said.

 

The house also held hundreds of thousands of parts to make watches.

 

But Tran was not a home when authorities searched the residence, and they spent another five years looking for him.

 

Finally, in December 2007, he was captured in Vietnam.

 

The U.S. attorney said the admitted counterfeiter put together the phony Rolexes in his house, then packed the goods in gym bags and sold them to wholesale buyers in New York City. Many of the watches were believed to have been sold on Canal Street.

 

Tran used Hong Kong bank accounts and wired money to a Cheltenham bank where his wife and sister's family had accounts, she said.

 

"This guy is a skilled watchmaker who could have used his talents for legitimate purposes," Foulkes said.

[greg_r 84]

Ouch.

[sconehead 5]

"This guy is a skilled watchmaker who could have used his talents for legitimate purposes," Foulkes said.

Know any rich watchsmiths anyone?

[JohnG 41]

"This guy is a skilled watchmaker who could have used his talents for legitimate purposes," Foulkes said.

Know any rich watchsmiths anyone?

[AllergyDoc 40]

Anyone who wants to be a dealer who keeps stock in the U.S. should have his head examined.

 

Who doesn't recall the TWP example? Drugs and rep watches--a bad mix.

[Luthier 1]

"This guy is a skilled watchmaker who could have used his talents for legitimate purposes," Foulkes said.

Know any rich watchsmiths anyone?

WM9, maybe?

[jameo210369 0]

What is going to happen to all those watches they found in his house, I think they will end up with those 2 customs officers from JFK and before long they will be on peoples wrists.

 

Only in America

[Luthier 1]

What is going to happen to all those watches they found in his house, I think they will end up with those 2 customs officers from JFK and before long they will be on peoples wrists.

 

Only in America

 

What else do you expect?

Destroying reps by buldoser?

[alphakazi 0]

http://journal.hautehorlogerie.org/en/echo...witzerland.html

 

 

 

And check this one :

 

http://www.hautehorlogerie.org/en/haute-ho...iting-campaign/

[greg_r 84]

Yeah, but that's the swiss - they're like that

[Luthier 1]

Yeah, but that's the swiss - they're like that

One of my dealers just told me- they ship a lot of replicas to Switzerland.

[Luthier 1]

The OECD has estimated international trade in counterfeit products at USD 200 billion a year.

 

And you think China will ever stop to make and sell reps????

Ha.Ha.Ha.

[iabounty 8]

Ya know that gives me an idea how I can keep my 4 grand daughters busy this summer. They have tiny fingers and 20/20 vision..... Would YOU buy a Rolex from a bounty hunter in Iowa??? Hand made by a 6 to 12 year old. Maybe an autographed picture of good old iabounty included with every purchase. (Specify clothed or el natural...)

[Luthier 1]

Ya know that gives me an idea how I can keep my 4 grand daughters busy this summer. They have tiny fingers and 20/20 vision..... Would YOU buy a Rolex from a bounty hunter in Iowa??? Hand made by a 6 to 12 year old. Maybe an autographed picture of good old iabounty included with every purchase. (Specify clothed or el natural...)

Child labor + homo nudity - it's Iowa!!!

[iabounty 8]

Ya know that gives me an idea how I can keep my 4 grand daughters busy this summer. They have tiny fingers and 20/20 vision..... Would YOU buy a Rolex from a bounty hunter in Iowa??? Hand made by a 6 to 12 year old. Maybe an autographed picture of good old iabounty included with every purchase. (Specify clothed or el natural...)

Child labor + homo nudity - it's Iowa!!!

I expected just such a reply from a stump grinder in Hollywood California............

[Luthier 1]

Ya know that gives me an idea how I can keep my 4 grand daughters busy this summer. They have tiny fingers and 20/20 vision..... Would YOU buy a Rolex from a bounty hunter in Iowa??? Hand made by a 6 to 12 year old. Maybe an autographed picture of good old iabounty included with every purchase. (Specify clothed or el natural...)

Child labor + homo nudity - it's Iowa!!!

I expected just such a reply from a stump grinder in Hollywood California............

Damn... am I so predictable???

:Talk to the Hand:

Nooo... you can't be soooo damn smart, IA...