Date: Jan. 10, 2025
Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov
Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that Klevis Nako of Worcester, Massachusetts, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Vernon D. Oliver in Hartford to 60 days of imprisonment, followed by 18 months of supervised release, for his participation in a conspiracy to sell counterfeit luxury and designer brand watches imported from China.
According to court documents and statements made in court, from November 2020 to April 2024, Nako conspired with other individuals to sell counterfeit luxury watches to customers across the United States. He illegally imported the counterfeit watches from China or obtained them from a co-conspirator in New York, and then advertised and sold the watches on the internet and through social media accounts he operated on Facebook and Instagram. During the investigation, law enforcement officers made multiple undercover transactions in which they purchased counterfeit Rolex watches from one of Nako’s Instagram accounts for approximately $100 to $300 per watch.
Between February and July 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized approximately 16 parcels containing a total of 138 counterfeit Rolex watches and five counterfeit Audemars watches that were addressed to Nako’s residence. Between April and June 2022, CBP seized three parcels, containing a total of 11 counterfeit Rolex watches and one counterfeit Movado watch, which were addressed to an office that Nako had rented in Holden, Massachusetts. The seized counterfeit watches had a total estimated manufacturers’ suggested retail price of approximately $3 million had the watches been authentic.
Judge Oliver ordered Nako to forfeit $271,585 in proceeds of his crime.
Nako was arrested on April 3, 2024. On that date, a court-authorized search of Nako’s residence revealed more than 60 counterfeit luxury watches, as well as counterfeit watch boxes and shopping bags. On Aug. 21, 2024, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods.
Nako was employed as a police officer with the Framingham State University Police Department in Framingham, Massachusetts, at this time of his arrest.
Released on $50,000 bond, Nako is required to report to prison on Feb. 13.
This matter is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI); Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has assisted the investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Neeraj N. Patel and Shan Patel.
IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.