Chicago Bears, Blackhawks Counterfeit Sport Clothing Operation Raided

MASSIVE COUNTERFEIT SPORTS CLOTHING OPERATION RAIDED
Bears, Blackhawks items dominate boxes, shelves in $1 million bust

A suburban man has been arrested after an undercover investigation found he was manufacturing and distributing thousands of sweatshirts, T-shirts, jerseys and hats embroidered with counterfeit logos of the Chicago Bears, Blackhawks and other popular brands, Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced Thursday.

Joseph Kim, 27, of Riverwoods, is charged with possession of more than 2,000 counterfeit items and manufacturing counterfeit items, both felonies. More than $650,000 in counterfeit merchandise and $400,000 in equipment was seized in a raid by Cook County Sheriff’s Police investigators this week. Investigators found most of the counterfeit apparel was boxed and ready to be shipped from Kim’s headquarters in the 4500 block of West Fillmore Street in Chicago out to flea markets and small shops across the country.

Chicago Bears logo in production.

Pink Chicago Bears sweatshirt.

The seizure is the largest of its kind by the sheriff’s vice unit in recent years. In the three-story warehouse Kim operated, police seized eight embroidery machines, valued at around $50,000 each. Also seized were more than 10,000 items of counterfeit clothing – more than half of which had Chicago Bears and other NFL logos on them. Also among the counterfeit stash were more than 1,000 fraudulent Fox Racing items and hundreds more pieces of merchandise with Harley Davidson, Hurley, Tapout and Nike logos, among others, affixed to them. When the warehouse was raided on Monday, eight employees were mass-producing near-replica Bears logos onto cheap winter hats.

The Cook County Sheriff’s Police Vice Unit began investigating Kim in October, after receiving information about hundreds of fraudulent T-shirts being sold at a major out-of-state flea market. Officers were able to determine the items were being produced by “Joe Kim Embroidery,” based in Chicago. Undercover officers then arranged to make multiple purchases of counterfeit merchandise directly from Kim.

Kim owns a legitimate logo and embroidery business – Asian American Industrial Alliance – and used that as cover for his illegal operation, investigators learned. AAIA holds several legitimate public and private contracts for printing services, but the vast majority of his business was dedicated to counterfeit operations, as he sold sweatshirts for $8 to $12 each. Legitimate versions normally retail for around $50 each. Kim told investigators he could embroidery nearly any trademark requested and among the items confiscated were computer discs with countless professional and college athletic logos, as well as major clothing brands.

After he was taken into custody, Kim admitted to investigators that he sold counterfeit items, but claimed most had already been produced and were left over from when his father ran the embroidery business before him. Kim’s father was arrested more than 10 years ago in an unrelated Sheriff’s Police investigation into counterfeit merchandising.

During a court hearing on Wednesday, Kim’s bond was set at $25,000. He posted the required 10 percent of that amount and will remain free while awaiting trial. His next court date is set for Tuesday.