NEW YORK – A Long Island woman is accused of operating a store with $40,000,000 worth of counterfeit luxury products.
Lindsay Castelli, 31, of Smithtown is the owner of Linny's Boutique on Old Country Road in Plainview.
Nassau County Police say the United States Postal Inspectors helped carry out an 18-month investigation Kath included numerous undercover buys. Detectives carried out a search warrant in the store on Tuesday, October 4, 2022. Turning a $10 sweatshirt into a $5,300 product
Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said that a Long Island counterfeiting operation would take cheap products and turn them into fake luxury items with steep price tags.
Detectives say Castelli had thousands of synthetic heat-sealed counterfeit labels along with assorted clothing and jewelry in the store. They removed 22 printing press machines and various counterfeit items labeled as Gucci, Chanel, Prada, Dior, Ugg, and Louis Vuitton, detectives said.
At a Tuesday morning news conference Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said, "They would take a hat, a $3 hat, a $0.50 item on the side. They would heat seal it onto the hat and sell (the) hat for $300."
Ryder said they would take a $10 sweatshirt and put a Chanel logo on it to create a $5,300 product.
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They put the combined value of the items at over $40,000,000. Police claim the items were being shipped all over the United States.
Castelli turned herself in to detectives on Oct. 7, 2022. She is charged with trademark counterfeiting. She was released and is due back in court on Nov. 2, 2022.
The shop's website says it is a family-owned business and "We stay ahead of the fashion trends to make sure you are always looking your best!" Image 1 of 6 ?
Lindsay Castelli is accused of running a $40M trademark counterfeiting operation out of her Long Island store.
