Game over.
A Long Island man allegedly peddled more than $2 million in phony Nintendo gaming gear out of an Island Park warehouse, selling the faux systems through Amazon to thousands of unsuspecting buyers, Nassau County prosecutors announced Thursday.
Isaac Lapidus, 34, is now facing up to 15 years behind bars after being arraigned on conspiracy and trademark counterfeiting charges in Nassau County court on Wednesday in the seven-year-long alleged scam, Nassau County DA Anne Donnelly said in a statement.
Nassau County prosecutors said Isaac Lapidus spent years selling phony Nintendo goods on Amazon. Office of the District Attorney Nassau County“For years, this defendant allegedly hawked hundreds of thousands of counterfeit Nintendo accessories for popular consoles and games through several Amazon seller accounts he controlled, and kept the phony merchandise in an Island warehouse for distribution to unsuspecting buyers,” Donnelly said.
“Counterfeit products are not just bad for business, they can also be dangerous for consumers, especially when electronics are involved,” she added.
Prosecutors said the DA’s office was tipped off about the scam by Nintendo and Amazon.
Lapidus allegedly started selling the imitation merchandise in October 2018, peddling the fake items on Amazon through five individual seller accounts — Panda Vida Inc., Unibabe, ABC of product, this too shall pass, and Zuzu cares 4U, authorities said.
Nassau County detectives seized a massive trove of phony Nintendo products inside an Island Park warehouse last week. Office of the District Attorney Nassau County
Nassau County DA Anne Donnelly said Isaac Lapidus made more than $2 million selling phony Nintendo products. Brigitte StelzerThe merchandise, including Nintendo Switch Docking Stations, docking station adapters and Pokemon Go Plus accessories, were stored in the Austin Boulevard warehouse for years.
According to prosecutors, the five accounts sold more than 200,000 of the Nintendo Switch stations, 10,000 switch dock adapters and about 15,700 of the Pokemon Go products between 2018 and earlier this month, when cops raided the site.
The items were found to have incorrect serial numbers, product codes and designs, and incorrect Japanese language characters that exposed the ruse, prosecutors said.
Lapidus is listed as the owner for the warehouse.
The phony items had incorrect serial numbers and the wrong Japanese characters on the packages, officials said. Office of the District Attorney Nassau County
Isaac Lapidus was charged with conspiracy and trademark forfeiting and released without bail, prosecutors said. Office of the District Attorney Nassau CountyAuthorities executed a search warrant at the site on Tuesday and seized 46 boxes of the Nintendo Switch stations, 23 Nintendo Cool Baby HD video games, and 33 boxes of Nintendo Pokemon Plus Go accessories — all of it determined to be counterfeit by Amazon officials, prosecutors said.
Lapidus was arrested with DA’s office detectives and arraigned Wednesday before Judge Lisa Locurto.
He pleaded not guilty and was freed on supervised release without bail.
