ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – For the last two years, the feds say a brother and sister duo have been running a counterfeit airbag business from their Albuquerque home.
They are accused of selling airbags with bogus logos to make it look like they came from a major auto company.
Cars sat idle around the house and car parts littered the porch and the backyard.
KRQE News 13 has learned that Albuquerque home near San Mateo and Zuni is where Homeland Security Investigations agents say 23-year-old Dina Gonzalez-Marquez and her brother, 21-year-old Emilio Gonzalez-Marquez, are accused of running a counterfeit airbag business from about January 2015 to March 2017.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says the Mexican nationals faced a federal judge on Thursday.
An indictment says the siblings listed the airbags online, shipping them out to customers or meeting people in person.
It says the two spoke at their home with an undercover agent about the business in August 2016 and again in March 2017.
According to the indictment, the counterfeit airbags are marked with recognizable logos to imitate companies like Honda, Chevrolet and Dodge.
The New Mexico Office of the Attorney General says it isn’t aware of complaints on the issue from drivers, but anyone impacted is encouraged to contact the Consumer Protection Division.
The indictment charges the siblings with trafficking in counterfeit goods.
If convicted, they each face a maximum of ten years in prison and a $2 million fine.
