MIAMI – Miami police released photos Thursday of a multi-million dollar haul of counterfeit designer items they said were being sold out of a downtown storefront.
It was the result of an undercover investigation and led to the arrests of a father and son who ran the store.
Authorities arrested Giovanni Tummolillo Sr., 72, of North Bay Village, at Miami International Airport on Tuesday. Police had arrested his son, Giovanni Tummolillo Jr., 40, of El Portal, on Aug. 23.
Both the elder Tummolillo, an Italian national, and his son are facing five felony counts of selling counterfeit goods.
The investigation into their business, Leather Goods LLC, located in the historic Ingraham Building at 25 SE Second Ave., began in March.
Police said “one particular individual” of a group “gave information that counterfeit merchandise was being sold at the business.”
Authorities said, using an undercover informant, they conducted controlled buys of counterfeit luxury jewelry, handbags and other designer goods from the Tummolillos.
“The goods that are being sold appeared to be associated with well-known luxury brands, including Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Fendi, Hermes, Gucci, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Prada, YSL, Christian Dior, Balenciaga, and Tiffany, to name a few,” police wrote. “To any ordinary and prudent person, these copies looked identical to any of the real products.”
Authorities said they executed a search warrant at the business on Aug. 23 and seized the $3 million in merchandise.
“During the recovery, manufacturing equipment and merchandise were discovered and identified by (a) trademark representative, who stated that those items are used to make counterfeit merchandise,” police wrote in the reports.
That same day, police also executed a search warrant at the elder Tumolillo’s apartment at The Lexi, a luxury North Bay Village condominium building located at 7901 Hispanola Ave. He wasn’t there at the time, police said.
Miami police would arrest Tummolillo Jr. in the area of Northeast First Avenue and 16th Street in the city’s Omni neighborhood.
They would later apprehend his father at MIA on Tuesday. Police didn’t state whether Tummolillo Sr. was trying to board a flight and, if so, where he was headed.