Three Chinese nationals accused of importing thousands of counterfeit luxury handbags in the United States have been arrested in the past two days, federal authorities announced Thursday.

"This was a sophisticated criminal conspiracy that trafficked millions of dollars of counterfeit goods from China, profiting off the backs of legitimate companies and their hard-working employees," said Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher.

The alleged leaders of the counterfeit operations are three Chinese citizens living in New York.

Chong Lam, 49, and Joyce Chan, 39, were arrested there Wednesday. Eric Yuen, 39, was arrested Thursday in Las Vegas, Nevada. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who made the arrests began investigating the alleged scheme five years ago, after raids turned up counterfeit goods. <LINK>

OK, just kidding about New York City. By the way, I don't think this is the kind of outward foreign investment that Beijing is encouraging these days, although it sounds like the shoppers in NYC loved it. This once again supports my contention that human beings everywhere will buy fake/illegal stuff if they think they can get away with it.