MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — Authorities in Miami-Dade County arrested a jewelry store owner accused of selling fake merchandise.
Deputies with the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said they took Manuel DeJesus Beltran-Machado, 43, into custody on Wednesday after he surrendered himself at the MDSO Organized Crimes Bureau.
Authorities said the suspect was selling counterfeit merchandise of brands Tiffany & Co., Gucci, Chanel, Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Prada and Rolex.
The arrest was a result of a months-long investigation in which deputies utilized the assistance of a brand investigator and made several purchases at two storefronts owned and operated by the suspect.
Items purchased at the Miami-Dade storefronts, located at 7148 SW 8th St. and 530 West 29th St., were then presented to experts with the specific brands to be tested for validity, and all came back as counterfeit, deputies said.
After executing a search warrant simultaneously at both locations on Feb. 12, deputies said they recovered 136 items with a “documented retail comparison valuation” of $894,070 at the location on 29th Street, and 126 items with a valuation of $939,895 at the Eighth Street location, to total 262 items valued at $1,833,965.
Jail records show Beltran-Machado is facing felony charges of selling, purchasing or possessing counterfeit items worth $20,000 or more.
As of Thursday morning, he remains behind bars at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center with bond listed as “to be set.”
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