The owner of a jewelry shop in Lauderhill is facing charges after police seized more than $1.6 million worth of counterfeit luxury goods from her store, officials said.
Ok Yon So, 71, was arrested Monday on a charge of selling or offering for sale counterfeit goods, an arrest report and jail records showed.
The report said So, of Davie is the owner of Sharon Jewelry at Lauderhill Mall.
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In December, authorities learned counterfeit Chenel jewelry was being sold by Sharon Jewelry after an investigator for Chanel went to the store and bought a Van Cleef & Arpels necklace priced at $100 and earrings priced at $40 for $128.40, the report said.
The worker who sold the items said they were copies, and when asked how much they would have cost if real, he said around $10,000, the report said.
The investigator confirmed the Van Cleef & Arpels items purchased were counterfeit, and an attorney for Van Cleef & Arpels said a genuine necklace has a suggested retail price of $8,400, while the earrings have a suggested retail price of $6,400.
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The Chanel investigator had previously served Sharon Jewelry and So a cease and desist on behalf of Chanel in May of 2020, demanding that they stop selling all items marked with Chanel logos, the report said.
At the time, So declined to voluntarily surrender the merchandise with Chanel logos, the report said.
In January, an undercover officer went to the Sharon Jewelry posing as a customer and found multiple counterfeit items including a Chanel pendant for $25, Chanel earrings for $99, a 14kt Chanel ring for $225, a 10kt Chanel bangle for $625, a Van Cleef & Arpels ring for $35, and a Van Cleef & Arpels set including earrings, bracelet and necklace for $840, the report said.
The Chanel earrings were purchased for $49, even though a genuine pair would typically sell for around $550. Chanel later confirmed the earrings were counterfeit.
In February, an undercover officer again went to Sharon Jewelry and Chanel earrings were purchased for $39 despite an authentic pair's value of $550, the warrant said. Those earrings were also found to be counterfeit.
A search warrant was executed at Sharon Jewelry on March 13 and 246 items of suspected counterfeit jewelry were seized, along with $20,358 in cash, the report said..
According to the report, So was interviewed by investigators and admitted to selling fake jewelry.
The jewelry seized, which included Chanel, Christian Dior, Rolex, Warner Brother, Sanrio, Versace, Louis Vuitton and Gucci if authentic would have had a suggested retail price of $1,617,367, the report said.
So was booked into jail. Attorney information wasn't available.
