Hermès Counterfeiters Receive Prison Sentences
23 people, including former Hermès employees, were charged.
A Paris court has charged 23 people involved in a years-long counterfeiting operation that produced hundreds of fake Hermès bags. The culprits, nine of whom are former Hermès employees, have been given prison sentences of up to six years. An arrest warrant was issued for a 41-year-old man, whose whereabouts are unknown, believed to be the mastermind behind the ring.
According to a report by WWD, Hermès has been awarded €10.4 million EUR in damages arising from counterfeit bags, which were produced between 2008 and 2012. Over the years, the ring used secret workshops in France and Hong Kong to produce an estimated 400 purses. Yet another 800 were made through an employee program that allows Hermès workers to make their own bags.
Hermès has not yet commented on the sentencing.
