2nd person pleads guilty in counterfeit military clothing scheme

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A New York City man has pleaded guilty to his role in a scheme to manufacture counterfeit brand-name clothing overseas that was then sold in the U.S., including to the military in violation of federal law, prosecutors said Thursday.

Bernard Klein, 39, who entered his plea Tuesday, conspired with wholesaler Ramin Kohanbash, 50, and at least one other person, to arrange the production of goods in China and Pakistan that carried fake labels identical to genuine U.S. trademarks, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Rhode Island.

Many of the fake garments claimed to have weather-resistant and other qualities that they did not, prosecutors said.

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Klein and Kohanbash instructed the manufacturers on how to fold and package the counterfeit goods, and to affix removable “Made in China” stickers in order to avoid problems when shipments were inspected by U.S. Customs, prosecutors said.

Sixty counterfeit Polartec fleece shirts were shipped to a business in North Kingstown in August 2018 and counterfeit parkas and trousers were shipped to the Rhode Island National Guard in East Greenwich on October 2018, prosecutors said.

Klein is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 4.

Kohanbash pleaded guilty last year and is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 22.

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