November 6, 1998

FIVE LOCATIONS ALLEGEDLY FENCING STOLEN NAME BRAND AND DESIGNER CLOTHING SHUT DOWN; HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS OF STOLEN CLOTHING SEIZED:TEN ARRESTED

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced today the arrest of ten individuals at five locations in the Corona, Jackson Heights and Flushing areas of Queens County that are alleged to deal in stolen name brand and designer clothing. Most of the merchandise found at the locations is alleged to have been stolen by organized groups of shoplifters and other thieves from malls, stores and warehouses in four states.

District Attorney Brown said, "The theft of retail merchandise by organized rings of shoplifters, cargo thieves and warehouse burglars is a problem of huge proportion nationwide. According to the Retail Loss Prevention Association, Inc., the retail industry reports losses of $23 billion annually due to theft -- losses that are, in the last analysis, passed along to the consuming public."

District Attorney Brown said that "Late yesterday five alleged fencing operations selling stolen merchandise were closed down. Our investigation began when members of the New York City Police Department received information that men's and women's clothing bearing Brooks Brothers, Ralph Lauren, Ann Taylor, Calvin Klein and other famous designer labels were being sold at several commercial and residential boutiques in Queens County at prices far below wholesale. As a result, a team of detectives assigned to the Queens District Attorney's Squad and the NYPD's Garment Center Unit, assisted by industry loss prevention experts representing the various designers whose clothing was involved, undertook an intensive investigation of the locations and, over the course of the past year, made numerous undercover purchases at each location. Yesterday afternoon the five locations, which include three residences, a beauty parlor and a storefront were raided by detectives, hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of clothing that has been identified as stolen were seized and ten individuals were arrested."

The following locations were raided: Joma Fashion of 38-29 99th Street, Corona (residence), Tuko's Fashions Corp., 108-52 43rd Avenue, Corona (residence), Elena's Boutique, 90-17 37th Avenue, Flushing (storefront), Rizo's beauty salon at 97-17 National Street, Flushing and a residence at 37-19 Warren Street, Jackson Heights. Among the items seized were hundreds of men's and women's suits, slacks, women's dresses and other merchandise valued at $350,000 and manufactured for such labels as Brooks Brothers, Ann Taylor, DKNY, Jones New York, Tahari, Polo, Gap, Limited, Express, Raffaela, Liz Claiborne, Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger.

District Attorney Brown said, "Much of the clothing purchased by the undercover detectives or seized during yesterday's raids was discovered to have been stolen from retail stores in shopping malls in such locations as Rehoboth Beach, Delaware; Brentham, New Jersey; Cheekatowaga, New York; Warwick, Rhode Island; and Chicago, Illinois.

The defendants arrested and charged are: Juan Nedrano, 28, 33-34 101st Street, Corona, N.Y.; Frank Pascual, 34, 340 Pennsylvania Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Julia Candio, 50, 85-39 80th Street, Woodhaven, N.Y.; Augusto Loyola, 44, 85-39 80th Street, Woodhaven, N.Y. (owner); Pedro Tiburcio, 52, 37-48 102nd Street, Jackson Heights, N.Y. (owner); Yolanda Garcia, 40, 38-15 99th Street, Corona, N.Y.; Yolanda Nunez, 45, 38-15 99th Street, Corona, N.Y.; Maria Ramirez, 45, 35-63 80th Street, Jackson Heights, N.Y.; Elena Ulloa, 48, 67-12 Yellowstone Blvd., Forest Hills, N.Y. (owner); Joe Candio, 23, 111-22 43rd Avenue, Jackson Heights, N.Y.

The defendants are all charged with criminal possession of stolen property and face up to 7 years upon conviction.

Assistant District Attorneys Eva L. Cooper and Linda LaGreca of the District Attorney's Economic Crimes Bureau, which is under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Michael J. Mansfield and John R. Mechmann, is in charge of the case.

The investigation was carried out by Sgt. Diana Coyne and Detective Henry Chan of the New York Police Department's Queens District Attorney's Squad, under the supervision of Captain Harold J. Knorr and Lt. Kenneth Rossello, and Sgt. Cibella Borges and Det. Robert Fleming of the NYPD's Garment Center Unit under the supervision of Lt. Paul O'Connor. Also involved in the investigation were detectives from the Queens District Attorney's Detective Squad under the supervision of Chief Edward T. Brady and Deputy Chief Lawrence J. Festa and New York State Police investigators assigned to the Queens District Attorney's Office under the supervision of Sr. Investigator John Cassino. District Attorney Brown also acknowledged the assistance provided by the police departments of Cheekatowaga, New York; Brentham, New Jersey; Warwick, Rhode Island; Chicago, Illinois and Rehoboth, Delaware.

It should be noted that an arrest is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.