Arcadia Man Arrested for Allegedly Selling Counterfeit Chinese DVDs

Wei Sheng “Jackie” Chen, 46 of Arcadia, and Dong Qun Lin, 40 of Alhambra, were arrested Monday morning on suspicion of trafficking in counterfeit goods, according to a statement released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials.

ICE officials said that Chen, the owner of the Monterey Park video store Tema Media Inc., and Lin, the manager at Tema, are suspected of illegally importing and selling tens of thousands of Chinese movie DVDs bearing a counterfeit Dolby Digital trademark.

“This seizure is a prime example of the hard work CBP officers and import specialists perform daily in combating the illegitimate trade in counterfeit goods at Los Angeles International Airport,” said CBP Acting Director of Los Angeles Field Operations Carlos Martel in the ICE press release. “CBP remains committed to working with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners to protect American consumers against products that hurt American businesses.”

The ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigation began in Sept. 2010 after U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers intercepted an air freight shipment containing more than 1700 DVDs from Hong Kong addressed to Tema Media, officials said. The Dolby trademark stamps on those movie DVDs were counterfeit, according to CBP import specialists.

HSI agents then seized around 25,000 Chinese DVDs from Tema Media in January after executing a federal search warrant, according to ICE’s released statement. Had the DVDs been genuine they would have fetched an estimated retail value of more than $1 million, officials said.

Authorities believe Tema Media, which is located at 151 E. Garvey Ave. in Monterey Park, imported approximately 85 shipments of Chinese DVDs in a five-month period from March through Oct. 2010.

“Our investigation indicates this retailer supplied clients not only in California, but also in Nevada,” said Claude Arnold, special agent in charge for ICE HSI in Los Angeles. “American consumers need to remember, the sale of counterfeit products like this is not a victimless crime. Counterfeiters don’t invest in product development; they don’t put a premium on product quality or safety; all they do is get rich at America’s expense.”

The charges carry a maximum possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison, authorities said.  The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, according to ICE officials.