After two years, defendant in ‘world’s largest’ Native American jewelry forgery case arrested in Bay Area - The Mercury News
After two years, defendant in ‘world’s largest’ Native American jewelry forgery case arrested in Bay Area - The Mercury News
SAN FRANCISCO — Two years after being indicted on charges of conspiring to manufacture and sell forged American Indian jewelry, the owner of a Filipino jewelry store was arrested in the Bay Area, court records show.
Imad Aysheh, 43, was wanted on charged of violating the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, a count which faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He appeared in a federal courthouse in San Francisco on Oct. 7, and a judge ordered him to appear in New Mexico to face the charges.
Aysheh and four others were indicted in February 2017, in what authorities at the time called an international scheme to, “fraudulently import and sell Filipino-made jewelry as Native American-made.”
Also indicted were Iyad Aysheh, 47, of Lodi, Nedal Aysheh, 39, formerly of Gallup, New Mexico, and Raed Aysheh, 39, of American Canyon. At the time, authorities said it was the largest ring involving forged Native American jewelry in history, and involved $12 million in purportedly authentic jewelry.
“Our arts and crafts give us a really concrete way to stay connected to our culture and our history,” Navajo jeweler Liz Wallace told National Geographic Magazine in 2017. “All this fake stuff feels like a very deep personal attack.”
According to the indictment, Imad was in charge of manufacturing the jewelry at his store in the Phillipines. Iyad alleged helped import the forged jewlery into the United States through his California company, IJ Wholesale. Raed allegedly helped sell the merchandise, through his Calistoga store, Golden Bear & Legacy, LLC.
Nedal allegedly, “provided source material and trained the Filipino laborers who manufactured the jewelry,” authorities said in a 2017 news release. The indictment alleges that federal authorities tracked more than $250,000 in money transfers to pay for the jewelry.
An undercover agent was used to ascertain that the jewelry was being marketed as authentic, and made jewelry purchases of more than $14,000, according to the indictment.
Imad was arrested on Oct. 3. The arrest took place in the Northern District of California, which covers the entire Bay Area, but further information wasn’t available.
