A Brooklyn, New York, clothing and goods wholesaler who directed the development, manufacture, and importation of $20 million worth of Chinese-made counterfeit U.S. military uniforms and gear that were passed off as genuine American-made products has been sentenced to 40 months in federal prison and ordered to forfeit the $20 million in proceeds that he obtained from the sale of the counterfeit goods.
Ramin Kohanbash, 52, was sentenced on Oct. 12. He pleaded guilty in June 2019 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and trafficking in counterfeit goods.
According to a Department of Justice release, Kohanbash will also be required to make restitution to the individual companies victimized by his conduct, including a Rhode Island company that reported a loss of more than $639,000 in profits and significant damage to its relationships with long-standing military clients due to the distribution of counterfeit products distributed by Kohanbash. The specifics of his restitution obligations will be determined at a later date.
“American servicemen and women risk their lives every day in defense of the nation,” said U.S. Attorney Cunha. “But the risks they face should never come from the uniforms they wear, and the equipment they carry. In this case, Defendants’ actions did exactly that, substituting substandard, foreign-made knockoffs for American products.”
Substandard, counterfeit goods manufactured in China were sold to the U.S. government to be worn or carried by Airmen in the U.S. Airforce, according to the release. Some of the products lacked crucial safety features or failed to meet safety specifications, endangering the health and safety of the military personnel who wore them.
At least 13,332 counterfeit jackets not resistant to enemies’ night vision goggles and 18,597 non-flame resistant hoods were among the counterfeit products that entered the military supply chain destined for U.S. Air Force bases around the world.
"Supplying counterfeit products to the DoD endangers the lives of American service members and betrays the public's trust,” said Patrick J. Hegarty, Special Agent in Charge of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service Northeast Field Office.
Co-defendant Bernard Klein, 41, of Brooklyn, was sentenced in April 2021 to 18 months of incarceration to be followed by three years of federal supervised release; ordered to pay a fine of $15,000; and to pay restitution in the amount of $400,000. In tandem with the criminal case, Klein also entered into a civil settlement agreement under which paid $348,000 to resolve liability to the United States under the federal False Claims Act for goods sold to certain government purchasers.
A third defendant, Terry Roe, 49, of Burlington, North Dakota, is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 20, 2022. He pleaded guilty in February 2022 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and traffic in counterfeit goods.
According to information provided to the court, Kohanbash worked collaboratively with Roe and Klein to provide samples of actual military uniforms and gear to manufacturers in China, including sample tags and labels that depicted trademarks of fifteen companies who make products for the military in the United States.
The Chinese manufacturers then counterfeited the products, tags, and trademarks. The counterfeit products were shipped to Kohanbash’s New Jersey warehouse and sold to the United States military and its suppliers, including a North Dakota supplier where Roe was employed.
According to court filings, Kohanbash and Klein strategized on how to subvert Chinese and American customs to ensure that the counterfeit military uniforms and gear were successfully imported from China into the United States and received at Kohanbash’s New Jersey warehouse. The bogus goods were then sold to the United States military and its suppliers.
Kohanbash and Roe also deceived personnel at military Base Supply Centers by including false certification letters claiming that the goods were manufactured in the United States. U.S. laws require that products sold to the U.S. military and certain other government buyers be manufactured in the United States or certain other designated countries; China is not one of those countries.
The Kohanbash, Klein, and Roe prosecutions are part of a group of parallel criminal and civil enforcement actions undertaken by the United States Attorney’s Office. As part of the effort, the United States has also reached three separate settlements under the federal False Claims Act in connection with this conduct.
The civil settlements, with Klein, Kohanbash, and the Dakota Outerwear Company of Minot, ND, have recovered a total of $2,042,398 for these defendants’ roles in a scheme to procure and sell counterfeit, and in some cases, defective and nonconforming goods, to federal purchasers.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.
