On August 8th, a group of men in New York by the name of Mikuki Suen (43), Jian Min Huang (42), Songhua Qu (54), Kin Lui Chen (53), and Fangrang Qu (31), were arrested for selling around 400,000 pairs of fake Nike Air Jordan sneakers worth $73 million. The five men were sentenced a maximum of 20 years each in prison. 

Michael Jordan is a retired NBA legend, who had played for the Chicago Bulls. He is the richest former league player with a net worth of $1.6 billion. Jordan has his own very successful brand named “Air Jordan.”  Nike Air Jordan sneakers are a favorite among athletic shoes, and are some of the most selling sneakers in the world. The Jordan brand is a dominant force in the world of shoes, releasing a different model every year.

The number of shoes sold had been dated all the way back to 2016. They had shipped 42 containers of the knock-off sneakers, to be sold to buyers on the US market for up to $190 per person.The men had purchased and shipped these fake shoes from China. “After the fakes arrived at the Port of Newark from China, they were taken to locations in Brooklyn and Queens where the logos were added and then distributed for sale,” reported NYPD and HSI investigators.

At the warehouse, the men had reportedly added logos and details to make the shoe look more of a realistic and original Air Jordan sneaker. “The counterfeit sneakers look like real Air Jordans in design and color, but lacked the logos that are registered trademarks,” court records had said.

In the last few months, the investigation recorded nearly 27,000 pairs of sneakers before charging the five men with counterfeit trafficking. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman had sent a message to other counterfeit rings stating, “Just don’t do it.”