State Dept. worker, wife charged in Oregon with trafficking in counterfeit goods

Allegedly sold counterfeit handbags from U.S. Embassy in Seoul

A U.S. Department of State employee and his spouse were arrested Wednesday for their role in an international conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit handbags from the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, federal prosecutors in Oregon said.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams of the District of Oregon and Deputy Assistant Secretary Ricardo Colón of the Department of State Diplomatic Security Service made the announcement.

Gene Leroy Thompson Jr., 53, and Guojiao “Becky” Zhang, 39, were indicted by a grand jury in Eugene and charged with conspiracy and trafficking in counterfeit goods. 

According to the indictment and other court documents, from September 2017 through this month 2019, Thompson Jr. and Zhang allegedly sold counterfeit Vera Bradley handbags from e-commerce accounts to people throughout the U.S.. 

Thompson Jr. is employed by the U.S. Department of State as an Information Programs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul.

Prosecutors said he used his State Department computer to create numerous accounts on a variety of e-commerce platforms, all from within a secure space within the Embassy designed to protect classified information. 

Once Thompson Jr. created these accounts, Zhang allegedly took primary responsibility for operating the accounts, communicating with customers, and procuring merchandise to be stored in the District of Oregon. 

Thompson Jr. and Zhang also directed a co-conspirator in Oregon to ship items to purchasers across the United States, prosecutors said.   

The Diplomatic Security Service Office of Special Investigations investigated the case with assistance from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. 

Senior Counsel Frank Lin of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, Trial Attorney Jay Bauer of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Potter of the District of Oregon are prosecuting the case.