Swarovski Crystal Made in Moscow

An illegal enterprise producing crystal chandeliers and lights under the world-famous Austrian trademark, Swarovski, has been tracked down in Moscow.

The operation was carried out by the Department for the Fight against Economic Crimes, the press service of the Moscow police reports.

The firm's Director General, a Ukrainian citizen, and manager were detained on charges of carrying out illegal activity. Their identities are kept in secret for investigation purposes. So far both men have been released in their own custody.

The men are suspected of having set up an enterprise producing and selling lighting appliances under the Swarovski trademark. The cost for a piece of crystal ware varied from $200 to $20,000.

The State Department for the Fight against Economic Crimes found out that the criminals had equipped a production shop on the premises of a restricted Moscow plant. There the frames of chandeliers and lamps were sprayed with yellow metal and decorated with crystal and glass pendant fittings.

The investigation revealed that only 1% of lamps was decorated with original Swarovski pendants, 30% of fittings were made of glass and crystal, and the rest of them were fake glass pendants made in Turkey.

Apart from that, investigators detected two warehouses with counterfeit production in Profsoyuznaya Street and Nakhimovsky Prospekt. Chandeliers and lamps were sold in 20 department stores in Moscow, most of them located within the Moscow Ring Road.

At present Swarovsku experts are trying to detect counterfeit lamps in Moscow stores, The State Department for the Fight against Economic Crimes reports.