THOUSANDS OF ITEMS SEIZED DURING COUNTERFEIT APPAREL RAID
Jalal Zayed, Samer Assasd, Iman Shahin. See all nine Cook County Sheriff mug shots here …
Police arrested eight men and one woman who were operating a counterfeit apparel sales ring out of stores in Chicago and suburban areas, Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced Saturday.
Two of the men were charged with felonies and appeared in bond court at 26th & California on Thursday. Seven others were charged with misdemeanors. The following is a list of those arrested and charged:
• Ali Shaheen, 27, of the 10600 block of South Parkside Avenue in Chicago Ridge, three felony counts of counterfeiting – $30,000 bond
• Said Aljuba, 30, of the 7000 block of West 100th Street in Chicago Ridge, two felony counts of counterfeiting – $20,000 bond
• Samer Assad, 37, of the 4000 block of West Barry Avenue in Chicago, three misdemeanor counts of counterfeiting
• Hazem Nasir, 48, of the 16000 block of Laurel Drive in Orland Park, two misdemeanor counts of counterfeiting
• Iman Shahin, 26, of the 10600 block of South Parkside Avenue in Chicago Ridge, one misdemeanor count of counterfeiting
• Muhamad Nakhlek, 19, of the 9200 block of South 50th Avenue in Oak Lawn, two misdemeanor counts of counterfeiting
• Amer Alomari, 34, of the 5600 block of West Eastwood Avenue in Chicago, one misdemeanor count of counterfeiting
• Jalal Zayed, 36, of the 10500 block of Major Avenue in Chicago Ridge, one misdemeanor count of counterfeiting
• Mohammed Zaben, 33, of the 4300 block of West Belmont Avenue in Chicago, two misdemeanor counts of counterfeiting
The Cook County Sheriff’s Police Special Operations Unit began investigating the ring in early March, after receiving a tip from a concerned citizen. Over the course of several weeks, investigators conducted surveillance and undercover purchases, and determined the nine men – who were either related or friends – were engaged in illegal counterfeiting sales. Most of the apparel items sold in their stores bore the counterfeit trademarks of Nike, Timberland and Major League Baseball.
On Apr 12th and 13th, detectives conducted a raid of the five businesses owned by the men at the following locations:
• Oak Park Tobacco & More, 6300 block of West North Avenue, Oak Park
• State Street Discount, 7100 block of South State Street, Chicago
• North Avenue Discount, 5500 block of West North Avenue, Chicago
• Chicago Avenue Discount, 5600 block of West Chicago, Chicago
• Madison Discount Store, 5100 block of West Madison, Chicago
In total, investigators seized more than 4000 items including shoes, jackets, hats and shirts with an estimated value of $150,000.
The next court date for Ali Shaheen and Said Aljuba is April 20th at Harrison & Kedzie.
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