Hermès employees found to be in on counterfeit ring

French police have dismantled an international crime ring which produced copies of the luxury fashion house's bags, with several Hermès staff in on the act.

A dozen people were arrested by French police last Thursday as part of the dismantling of an international crime ring which produced fake Hermès bags. Two Hermès employees have been dismissed as a result of the probe, according to WWD back in June of this year, but the luxury goods company believes that current members of staff could also be involved.

It has come as no surprise to Delortae Agency, who have noticed a sharp increase in our own person inspection of an increasingly new breed of sophisticated counterfeits from the iconic brand house.

Starting prices for two of the brand's most iconic bags, the Kelly and the Birkin, start in the several thousand of pounds bracket and are often subject to lengthy waiting lists. Lindsey Lohan, Kim Kardashian and Victoria Beckham are celebrity collectors of the brand.

Police discovered a workshop filled with precious leather skins and estimated that one branch operated by the ring contained sales worth around €18 million (£14.5 million).

"This operation concludes a one-year investigation following an Hermès complaint based on clues and abnormal behaviour identified through the house's internal monitoring systems," Hermès said in a statement.

The bust follows a ruling in April in which the Hermès was awarded approximately £63 million after winning their case against 34 counterfeit websites.

Hermès chief executive officer Patrick Thomas recently estimated that eighty per cent of objects sold on the internet under the Hermès name are fakes, a statistic he branded "an absolute disgrace".


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HERMÈS dismantle international crime ring producing counterfeits of its bags

Luxury giants HERMÈS has announced an international crime ring producing counterfeit versions of its bags has been dismantled by French police. The brand house said that several members of Hermès staff had been dismissed following the investigation, but has not confirmed whether they were among the 12 people arrested in connection with the fraud last week.

"This operation concludes a one-year investigation following an Hermès complaint based on clues and abnormal behaviour identified through the house's internal monitoring systems," the company told WWD. "Hermès is very satisfied with the efficient and diligent collaboration established with the national gendarmerie in this case and reiterates its relentless commitment to fighting counterfeiting. This action puts an end to the fraudulent project in progress."

It is thought that the bags were sold through a parallel distribution network in Europe, the US and Asia, but made in France - after police discovered a series of workshops filled with precious leather skins in Paris last week. The Paris public prosecutor estimated the value of sales by one branch of the ring at €18 million.

"Eighty per cent of objects sold on the internet under the Hermès name are fakes," Hermès chief executive officer Patrick Thomas told WWD  in a recent interview. "It's an absolute disgrace."

Both Hermès and British label Burberry were recently awarded £63 million ($100 million) each by a Manhattan court as compensation from Chinese counterfeiters who had profited from reproducing their trademarks illegally.


The luxury brand have recently come under fire (forgive the pun) for allegedly burning their iconic un wanted bags.


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Hermes Wins $100 Million Lawsuit Against Counterfeits

Hermes Head Office

A New York has awarded French luxury goods company Hermes International $100 million in damages from retailers of 34 websites who sold counterfeit versions of Hermes handbags and other products, Wednesday.

Interestingly, the websites did not defend themselves, were found to have infringed upon nine trademarks. In addition to selling the much sought after Birkin bags they also sold counterfeit wallets, jewellery, belts and watches. Steps were also taken to ensure these sites were not going to be reopened.

We strongly believe the size of the judgement, is in large, due partly to the defendants' failure to adhere to earlier court orders demanding that they cease, temporarily, selling the goods.

In it's ruling the court ordered the PayPal accounts of the defendants' be liquidated, in order to meet the judgement, as well as further ordering Facebook and Twitter to remove links to the infringing sites.

It will be interesting to see if the search engines and social media sites comply, as the court have no authority of these areas, so how fully the order will be enforced has yet to be seen.

We for one, certainly welcome the action. We have seen the sophistication of these counterfeits improve over the years, as Hermes waiting list increase, so does the quality of the counterfeits and the price fake Birkins cost.

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