A woman is accused of selling counterfeit high-end brand items at a store in the Town Center at Boca Raton.
Police arrested 33-year-old Rose Yavru this week on a charge of selling or offering for sale counterfeit merchandise.
The investigation began last September, when police say they received a tip about a store selling high quantities of fake Louis Vuitton items and other goods.
According to the report, Yavru worked at Hamsa Shoes, which also operated at a different location in the mall under the name Hamsa Boutique.
Additionally, the report states that officers and investigators with “A Action Investigations” managed to buy a Louis Vuitton jacket for $280. The company confirmed it was a counterfeit.
A store employee told police that she needed to text or call Yavru in order to obtain a price on certain unmarked items in the store. Police wrote in the report that some customers would ask for products from the back, as if they were using a “secret code word.”
Yavru told police that in her native country of Turkey, placing counterfeit items in store display window is not an issue. She later admitted knowing that it was wrong. “I thought so but I didn’t know big trouble, but I didn’t know it was this much trouble,” she told police.
After using a search warrant, police ended up seizing more than 1,800 counterfeit items from the store, which included Fendi, Gucci, Chanel, Burberry, Kate Spade, Kors, Nike, and Tommy Hilfiger, among others.
Police estimated the value of the counterfeit items to be worth more than $20,000.