LANSING – In what she described as the largest counterfeit goods seizure in the state’s history, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced criminal charges against four men accused of running a network that sold fake perfumes through major online platforms such as Walmart and Amazon.

The defendants were identified as Bilal Ahmed, 28, of Warren; Shuba Barua, 29, of Sterling Heights; Ahasan Khan, 28, of Sterling Heights and Kyle McIntyre, 38, of Port Huron.

Ahmed, Barua and Khan each face one count of conducting a criminal enterprise — a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison — along with 13 counts of possessing counterfeit goods, a felony carrying up to five years in prison, and one count of using a computer to commit a crime, also punishable by up to 20 years. McIntyre faces six counts of possessing counterfeit goods in addition to the other two charges.

Bond for all four defendants was set at $25,000 pending further court proceedings, according to a statement from Nessel’s office.

The official announcement, issued simultaneously with the charges, drew strong criticism from defense attorneys, who argued it damaged their clients’ reputations before any evidence was presented in court.

“In the age of the Internet and social media, these press releases harm a person’s reputation before any legal process takes place,” Neal Rockind, the attorney for Barua, said, describing his client as a hardworking businessman with no criminal record.

Some of the counterfeit perfumes seized by the Michigan State Police. – Videograb

Nessel countered that some of the seized counterfeit products, taken from multiple locations, had been tested and found to contain heavy metals, animal urine and harmful chemicals.

According to authorities, the four defendants operated for many years as part of a larger network selling counterfeit luxury perfumes through Walmart and Amazon’s online platforms.

Speaking at a press conference, Nessel said counterfeit goods and trademark infringement are “not victimless crimes”, explaining that they involve “stealing from legitimate businesses, deceiving consumers, undermining brand integrity and potentially exposing unsuspecting consumers to dangerous, unregulated products from untrusted chemical factories.”

The investigation began in October 2023, when Walmart requested assistance in probing suspected sellers of counterfeit perfumes on its third-party marketplace.

According to Nessel, that seller was McIntyre, a Port Huron man accused of selling more than $1 million worth of counterfeit products as a third-party seller on Walmart’s marketplace.

Last December, authorities executed search warrants in Port Huron as part of that investigation. During that search, they seized more than 300 boxes full of knock-off fake perfume and cologne labeled as Victoria’s Secret, Bleu de Chanel, Abercrombie & Fitch and L’Oréal, Nessel said.

The first raid led to additional search warrants in Sterling Heights, where more than 100,000 boxes of suspected counterfeit perfumes and colognes were seized in a warehouse belonging to Barua,

The other suspects, Ahmed and Khan, were caught after investigators linked them to McIntyre and Barua. Nessel said those men also had accounts they used to sell fake perfumes and colognes.

The investigation also revealed that McIntyre also allegedly sold the fake products on Amazon. His Amazon shop, Glow Beauty, received more than 100 complaints about counterfeit products over a two-year period, Nessel said,

If you purchase a counterfeit product and then learn it is fake, you are urged not to use the product and report it. This should be done even if the product meets your needs and appears to work as intended, since it could contain unsafe materials.

Customers can report suspected fake products to Amazon, which will investigate the claims and the sellers.