Xing Ming Wang and Xiao Yu Zheng sold DVDs around Nassau County, including at local diners
MINEOLA, N.Y. – Acting Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced the arrest today of a Queens couple that operated a counterfeit DVD ring out of their Flushing apartment and sold the pirated movies at locations around Nassau County.
Xing Ming Wang and Xiao Yu Zheng, both 48, were arrested yesterday by District Attorney’s Office Investigators and arraigned this morning by Nassau District Court Judge James Darcy on the following charges:
• Scheme to Defraud in the 1st Degree (an E felony)
• Failure to Disclose the Origin of a Recording in the 1st Degree (an E felony) • Trademark Counterfeiting in the 2nd Degree (an E felony)
• Trademark Counterfeiting in the 3rd Degree (an A misdemeanor)
Judge Darcy set bail in the amount of $1,500 bond or $750 cash. If convicted of the top charge, the couple faces a maximum sentence of 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison. The couple is due back in court on September 15.
“The defendants are alleged to have run a sophisticated pirating operation out of their Queens home and went store to store selling DVDs in East Meadow.” Acting DA Singas said. “Counterfeiting is a crime and will not be tolerated in Nassau County.”
Acting DA Singas said the District Attorney’s Office was notified in April by a diner owner that Zheng came to the restaurant every Thursday to sell DVDs. Working in conjunction with an investigator from the Motion Picture Association of America, the District Attorney’s Office determined that the DVDs were counterfeit goods. According to investigators, Zheng went from table to table selling the DVDs while her husband, Wang, waited in the car. Investigators purchased DVDs from Zheng in April, June and July and also observed the couple leaving their home with multiple bags of counterfeit DVDs. The couple was observed selling DVDs at nail salons, diners, car washes, optometry offices and other locations.
Detective investigators seized more than 1,500 DVDs from their home when the couple was arrested.
Assistant District Attorney Whitney Matthews of Acting DA Singas’ Economic Crimes Bureau is prosecuting the case. Wang is represented by Douglas Appel, Esq. and Zheng is represented by Legal Aid.
The charges are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless found guilty.