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Saturday, June 23, 2012

Hermes Fights Counter-Feiters From In - HOUSE




Hermes is not messing around when it comes to counterfeits. Last month, the legendary luxury label shut down 34 counterfeit sites–and won $100 million in damages–and now they’ve helped the French police bust an international crime ring that produced and sold knockoffs of their bags, WWD is reporting.
Apparently, the illegal operation was making millions in Hermes counterfeits–one Paris public prosecutor put profits at 18 million euros (or $22 million) for just one branch of the ring–and they were doing it all with the help of actual Hermes employees.
“This operation concludes a one-year investigation following an Hermes complaint based on clues and abnormal behavior identified through the house’s internal monitoring systems,” Hermes told WWD.
It’s unclear how exactly the employees facilitated the operation, but when the French national police busted the ring on Thursday they found clandestine workshops filled with precious leather skins. A dozen or so individuals were believed to have been arrested, and two Hermes employees have been dismissed. More employees of the luxury label could be facing a similar fate, as Hermes believes that other current staff members could also have been involved. Yikes.
Is it just us, or is it time for an anti-counterfeiter superhero to magically appear?