Two Brothers from NY Charged in $2 Million Counterfeit Beauty Product Bust

In March 2014, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced the takedown of a large-scale counterfeiting operation: more than $2 million worth of health and beauty products seized from five locations across Nassau County — and, notably, this was one of the first such rings where the counterfeit goods were actually being manufactured in the U.S.

Arrested as the heads of the scheme were brothers Pardeep Malik, 59, of Plainview, and Hamant Mullick, 60, of Franklin Square. Each was charged with three counts of Trademark Counterfeiting in the first degree and one count of counterfeiting in the second degree, with bail set at $100,000 each. (Nassau County DA; NY Post)

The brothers allegedly ran manufacturing, storage, and showroom facilities in Franklin Square, Oceanside, Freeport, and Valley Stream, employing about 20 people. Their product line imitated some of the most trusted brands on drugstore shelves: ChapStick, Johnson's Baby Oil, Vicks VapoRub, Vicks Inhaler, Vaseline, Always sanitary pads — even over-the-counter pain and cold medicines.

The danger is the reason this case mattered: lip balms, oils, shampoos, and inhalers are tightly regulated precisely because they go on and in your body. These counterfeits bypassed every safety test, every manufacturing standard, and every license. The seized goods were sent for safety testing.

"Health and beauty products like lip balms, oils, shampoos and inhalers are highly regulated in order to protect consumers, but these defendants are charged with going around those protections and stealing the brands of major corporations that comply with the law," DA Rice said. "These actions can endanger the public."

The charges are, as always, accusations until proven in court. But the case was a useful reminder for shoppers: a suspiciously cheap version of a trusted brand, bought from an unfamiliar outlet, may be exactly what it looks like.