From the Daily News:The feds have uncovered something other than cloak-and-dagger stuff going on at the Queens Spy Shop.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents intercepted a shipment of 1,000 counterfeit hologram logos for New York City Department of Transportation parking permits sent from India to the East Elmhurst store, which sells high-tech surveillance equipment. DOT issues only about 500 legitimate permits.
An airway bill which described the contents of the shipment only halfway truthfully as "plastic pouches" didn't fool the agents who made the seizure on Aug. 18 at Kennedy Airport, according to a search warrant affidavit unsealed Thursday in Brooklyn Federal Court.
The counterfeit items were indeed clear plastic sleeves with the official-looking DOT hologram embossed on the surface and is used as a cover for the parking permit which authorizes employees to parking just about anywhere in the city.
The Queens Spy Shop on Astoria Blvd. is not an authorized vendor of the parking pass, Homeland Security special agent Rosanna Licitra stated in the affidavit.
"There is probable cause to believe that the (Queens Spy Shop) manufactures counterfeit NYCDOT permit parking passes," which makes it a federal crime to traffic in goods using a counterfeit mark, the agent stated.
The spy shop is operated by Jonel Van Demark who was charged by Manhattan federal prosecutors with bank fraud last July.
8 comments:
Increase the penalty for using a fake placard. Put a barcode on every placard so it can be scanned, and the parking enforcement agent can check the database to see if it matches the car with the placard.
So the eagle-eyed U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents can spot a bogus shipment of DOT hologram logos IMMEDIATELY, but when it comes to noticing the 500,000+++ illegal aliens in NYC, they instantly use the Sergeant Schultz defense:
"I hear nothing, I see nothing, I know nothing!"
You might want to check out the one in Jamaica on Hillside Avenue. I never quite got why this type of store would on Hillside Avenue in Jamaica. Probably the same thing (if not more), since anything goes in this community.
Yup,first the illegal parking placards,then the unwashed third world illegal hordes, followed by Korean churches,Moo slums and HIPSTERS!!!
What's a Moo slum?
Hipsters are generally educated and work for a living - they're not all trustafarians - they're just young people! I'm not young anymore but I like hanging out with smart, well-informed people of all ages.
Hipsters would be an incredible improvement over the unfriendly Italians in North (ha ha) Flushing and Whitestone. I don't expect foreigners, other than Europeans, to be friendly, but at least the white people in the neighborhood could try a little harder!
Bring on the hipsters...anyone that can talk about something other than the Sopranos and Goodfellas!!!!
Who actually gets these DOT parking placards?
I see the woman from Folan real estate group, I think it's Ann Folan, with a DOT placard on her white BMW parked outside her agency two feet from the curb. I guess she doesn't have to bother paying the meter either.
Why is she above the law?
Anonymous said...
" I don't expect foreigners, other than Europeans, to be friendly"
What are you talking about ?
You sound like a raysiss :-O
Spy Shop is a front for something. If they were legitimate, they would stick to dealing their products to the public, in a legal manner.
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