Designer deception: Police pounce on phony shirt makers

That's what Metro-Dade police say the owner of a Doral wholesale manufacturing company was trying to do. They arrested him May 2 for allegedly making and selling knock-off top name T-shirts -- including Nike and Tommy Hilfiger.

Police confiscated $10,000 worth of the shirts in a scenario that has become more and more familiar.

Police say Jorge Murcia, 37, of Embroidery USA, 7064 NW 50th St., used stolen computer disks programmed with the brands' logos to sew the designs on T-shirts and jerseys of lesser quality.

The list of the company's fake shirts reads like a who's who of brand names -- Polo, Guess!, Hard Rock Cafe. The company was even making ``Olympics '96'' T-shirts, police say.

The fakes look like the real thing to a consumer, but investigators from A Action Investigators and Security, a private company that regularly checks out local shirt manufacturers for big-name trademark clients, found torn off original tags and average-quality fabric, police said.

``You pay top dollar for these things and don't get what you pay for,'' said Lt. Mickey Brelsford, of Metro-Dade's Doral District station. ``In some cases you can see where the tag's been sewn on top of the original one.''

Counterfeiting costs U.S. manufacturers $2 billion a year, he said.

Murcia has been charged with two felonies: forging or counterfeiting private labels and vending goods with counterfeiting labels.

Police said Embroidery USA is still open for business, as long as it is the legal kind.