Chinese man jailed for selling thousands of fake Nike sneakers

Counterfeit Nike sneakers / Yonhap

By Jung Min-ho

A Chinese man has been sentenced to four years in prison for selling thousands of fake Nike sneakers in Korea.

The Seoul Central District Court said Friday that it convicted the man, 36, surnamed Kim, of selling more than 8,000 counterfeit brand shoes ― 7,300 Nike and 670 Converse ― between May 2017 and April 2018. In doing so, he made about 744 million won ($660,000).

The court imposed him to pay all that money in restitution for the crimes.

Rejecting his claims that victims knew the shoes were counterfeit, the judges said a heavy sentence was necessary because the man had denied his crimes, which had caused harm to many consumers and damaged the brands' reputation.