Brothers charged in sale of knockoffs

Mar 10, 2010 — The Boston Globe

By John M. Guilfoil

Mar. 10, 2010 (The Boston Globe delivered by Newstex) --

Police seized dozens of boxes of counterfeit clothes, shoes, sunglasses, perfumes, and other accessories after a raid on the Super Mario Store on Washington Street in Jamaica Plain late last week.

The items, which included major labels and designers, were worth at least tens of thousands of dollars, and they were being sold as originals at a slight markdown, police said.

``We received information . . . that a store in Egleston Square was selling counterfeit merchandise,'' said Boston police Detective John Cronin. ``I didn't think it would be to this extent.''

The counterfeit items, seized Friday, included more than 600 shoes, including eight pairs of Coach shoes, 27 pairs of Gucci sneakers, and 29 pairs of Timberlands. Also among the items were 143 National Football League and Major League Baseball jerseys, 40 pairs of True Religion jeans, 14 Chanel sunglasses, 55 Oakley sunglasses, 21 North Face jackets, and 48 Lacoste shirts.

One pair of True Religion jeans alone can sell for over $300. Cronin said all of the items seized in the raid will eventually be incinerated.

Police said the items were carefully inventoried, and customers could ask for their size and staff would go in the back room to pull items.

The store's owners, Daniel Cabral, 42, of Roslindale and Mario Cabral, 51, of Jamaica Plain, will face felony charges, Cronin said.

It took police several hours to remove all the items, which were placed inside a holding cell usually reserved for prisoners in the Jamaica Plain Area police station. Police executed a search warrant on the store Friday.

Super Mario, which sells a variety of clothes, gifts, and sundries, remained open for business yesterday. Staff inside declined to comment.

Police worked with Powers & Associates, a Sandwich private investigative firm that represents major brands like Gucci and Nike. (NYSE:NKE) The group represented trademark holders during a 2005 police raid on storage units rented by three Chelsea sisters that netted $1.5 million in counterfeit purses.

Although items seized Friday looked authentic, police pointed out there were obvious flaws like letter spacing, stitching, missing labels, tag design, and even the length of tubes on perfume bottles.

This is not the first time the Super Mario Store has had run-ins with authorities related to selling knockoffs. Nike brought a complaint against the store last year.

At the time, the store turned over 1,000 counterfeit items, and a judge ordered the Cabral brothers to pay Nike $5,500, which police said has not been paid yet.

Police also said the Super Mario store was in ``substandard condition'' and called for building and electrical inspectors to investigate.

John M. Guilfoil can be reached at jguilfoil@globe.com.

Newstex ID: BGL-1035-42736452