Officials: $5M in counterfeit cellphone parts, $1.1M in cash seized.

Authorities seized about $5 million in counterfeit cellphone components and accessories, along with $1.1 million in cash, from two Wantagh men who used them to repair cellphones that they sold as new, Nassau County officials said Thursday.

The arrests of Gurcharan Luthra, 37, and Sumesh Pasricha, 48, on Monday followed a four-month investigation into the duo, who authorities say received shipments from China and sold the goods on the internet, a store called AMS World in Wantagh and their shared residence on Poulson Street.

Representatives from Nassau police, the Nassau County Distric Attorney’s office, Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized a multitude of the products, which were spread out across three long tables during the Thursday news conference in Levittown.

Luthra and Pasricha were arraigned Wednesday in First District Court in Hempstead. Luthra is charged with two counts of counterfeiting second-degree, and Pasricha is charged with counterfeiting second-degree and conspiracy fifth-degree.

https://www.newsday.com/long-island/crime/counterfeit-good-homeland-security-1.17738046