On December 1, 2011, two New Jersey men were charged in an indictment in the Eastern District of New York for their alleged roles in a conspiracy to import and traffic in counterfeit perfume, according to Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and United States Attorney Loretta E. Lynch of the Eastern District of New York.

Sanjay Anandani, 34, of Clinton, N.J., was arrested on December 1, 2011, in Secaucus, N.J . and made his initial appearance before United States Magistrate Judge Robert M. Levy in the Eastern District of New York. Rohit Rohit, 28, of Edgewater, N.J ., surrendered to authorities on December 2, 2011, and made his initial appearance before United States Magistrate Judge Cheryl L. Pollack in the Eastern District of New York.

According to the indictment, they conspired with each other and others to traffic in counterfeit perfume. The indictment alleges that Anandani and Rohit imported three shipping containers with counterfeit perfume during 2009 and 2010, as well as 4,600 fragrance boxes bearing counterfeit perfume trademarks.

The two-count indictment charges each defendant with conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods and trafficking in counterfeit goods. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The trafficking charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $2,000,000 fine. Criminal indictments are only charges and are not evidence of guilt.

The indictment highlight the efforts of the Department of Justice Task Force on Intellectual Property (IP Task Force), which was “to combat the growing number of domestic and international intellectual property crimes, protect the health and safety of American consumers, and safeguard the nation’s economic security against those who seek to profit illegally from American creativity, innovation and hard work.” To learn more about the IP Task Force, go to www.justice.gov/dag/iptaskforce/.