Move over, Imelda Marcos: RCMP seizes 7,400 pairs of alleged counterfeit shoes

MONTREAL – The RCMP now possesses a collection of shoes so big it would make Imelda Marcos blush.

Unlike the former Philippines first lady’s infamous collection of elegant footwear, the Mounties’ gargantuan stash consists of sneakers – more than 7,400 pairs of them.

And in contrast to Marcos’ voracious appetite for authentic brand names, these ones are allegedly fake, and intended for sale.

The RCMP seized the counterfeit shoes over the past month – about 4,000 from a warehouse Tuesday in Ste-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier, near Quebec City, and the rest from a shipping container in Montreal several weeks ago.

Police said Wednesday that an investigation was launched after the Canada Border Services Agency seized a cargo container in Montreal that had arrived from Taiwan. It was part of a joint operation between the RCMP and CBSA – dubbed Project Castille – where the forces co-operate to investigate counterfeit goods.

In this case, the country of origin and company shipping the merchandise set off alarm bells, an RCMP spokeswoman said.

Some big-name brands were among the allegedly fraudulent footwear: false Adidas, Alive, DC Shoes, Circa and Nike sneakers were seized.

“These are what I would call fashion sneakers – they’re not performance shoes,” RCMP Cpl. Lyse Levesque said.

Levesque said the shoes were sold at three locations across the province at dramatically marked-down prices – a sure warning sign that a product might be counterfeit.

Investigators said it wouldn’t be possible to immediately tell the difference just by looking. But price is a giveaway: authentic shoes go for as much as double the price these ones were being sold for.

“The store was saying that they were on sale, that’s why the price was so low,” Levesque said.

The other identifying factor was the listed manufacturing location: shoes are often designed in the U.S. and made in mainland China, not Taiwan as the fakes were marked.

Police said no charges had been laid yet and the investigation was ongoing Wednesday. The name of the company was not immediately released.

Levesque said people linked to the company involved could be charged with violating the federal Copyright Act and, possibly, even fraud.

Imelda Marcos, widow of the late Filipino strongman Ferdinand Marcos, was believed to have set a world record for owning the world’s largest shoe collection – with around 3,000 pairs – when the family was chased from power in 1986.

Marcos is now an elected member of the country’s congress.

So what happens to the RCMP’s world-class shoe haul?

Counterfeit goods usually wind up confiscated and destroyed. But Levesque said it’s too early to say if these shoes could possibly be donated instead.