“Purse parties” are the in thing in today’s counterfeiting circles. But the Glens Falls Police Department in New York recently became party-poopers when they seized $50,000 to $75,000 worth of counterfeit merchandise and made several arrests.

The confiscated merchandise, last seen spread out in the Glens Falls Police Department offices, included  hundreds of designer handbags, sunglasses, winter coats and jewelry, with expensive designer names like Tiffany, Coach, Louis Vuitton and North Face.

These illegal knockoffs of the brand-name products – selling for a fraction of the price the real stuff would go for – were seized at so-called "purse parties" in Glens Falls, where vendors who move counterfeit merchandise bring them to area homes to sell to local residents.

Tupperware parties are out – purse parties are in

Gone are the days of innocent Tupperware parties and Amway ladies. According to an article in gawker.com, today’s suburban scene now features so-called purse-party ladies who buy fake Vuitton and Gucci bags from wholesalers and then host a party at a friend’s house so their neighbors – ladies with champagne taste but beer money – can indulge in the pleasure of owning a “designer” item. The women hosting the parties make a profit, the IRS makes nothing, and the buyers go home with what they think is a real Louis Vuitton.

And most purse party hostesses and guests are not uneducated, lower middle class denizens but proper suburban ladies (one recent arrestee was a lawyer’s wife) who can nevertheless be found during raids at Chinatown wholesalers. The article quotes an Anti-Counterfeiting Group representative who said that most purse party ladies don't see buying or selling fake handbags as a real crime and that, in fact, one-third of those questioned in a survey said “they would knowingly buy counterfeit goods if the price and quality were right, and 29 percent said they saw no harm in the selling of fake goods unless the purchaser was at risk.”

Thanks to a Glens Falls Police Department crackdown on purse parties, seven people have been charged with felonies in three cases and tens of thousands of dollars worth of goods have been confiscated. In one case, the arrests happened when officers got the vendors’ names from a tipster and invited them to town; in another case, they arrested two people and confiscated $1,500 in cash as they left a party in Glens Falls. A total of $3,000 in cash was confiscated from the groups selling the items and police seized $50,000 to $75,000 worth of merchandise in the three cases.

 According to Warren County District Attorney Kate Hogan, many people think it’s no big deal but "…The problem is the FBI is telling us this money is being laundered for nefarious things." Police Chief Joseph Bethel added, "It's funding terrorism…it's a violation of state penal law and it's trademark infringement. There are laws against it."

In fact, the 1993 terrorist plot to attack the World Trade Center was financed through the sales of counterfeit items, including handbags and watches, through New York City storefronts, said Glens Falls Police Captain Kevin Conine. He said that so far, Glens Falls Police have arrested seven vendors who were bringing illicit merchandise into the area to be resold at these home-based purse parties.

Those charged with selling the counterfeit merchandise were:

·         Frank M. Rotundo, 62, of Utica, arrested Nov. 14;

·         Christine M. Carino, 47, of Frankfort, arrested Nov. 14;

·         Susan E. Varone, 41, of Schaghticoke and a teacher in the Cambridge Central School District, arrested Nov. 28;

·         Gary W. Spencer, 57, of Ballston Spa, arrested Nov. 28;

·         John J. Meagher, 61, of Utica and accused of supplying the two who were arrested Nov. 14, arrested Dec. 5;

·         Kimberly A. Zeppieri, 46, of Mechanicville and a “manager”, arrested Dec. 12; and

·         Ashley L. Zeppieri, 22, of Mechanicville and a “district manager”, arrested Dec. 12.

All seven were released pending prosecution in City Court. According to police, each faces a felony count of second-degree trademark counterfeiting. Several had prior arrests on the same charge, police said.

How about the homeowners or others who host the parties? State law allows for them to be charged as well, for allowing criminal activity at their homes. According to Conine, they could face a misdemeanor criminal nuisance count.

And what of the fake Tiffanys, Coaches and Vuittons that were confiscated? In accordance with state law, they will be destroyed when the prosecution is over.