Fake Rolexes Are Really Expensive

Mike Korpi wanted to bring back trinkets from China for his three kids and five grandkids, so he picked up some fake Rolex watches in a bargain shop -- paying a couple of bucks apiece.

As he left Shen Zhen for Oregon, he wore one and packed the other seven in his duffel bag. When the flight landed, a customs agent spotted the fake watch on Korpi's wrist and told him he'd have to be searched.

Korpi understood when the agent said he'd have to seize the watches. The agent said Korpi could keep the one he was wearing.

Advertisement

And that was the end of that. Or so Korpi thought.

Over the next several months, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security tried reaching Korpi. They sent letters to his ex-wife. They tried calling him. Korpi assumed the government was trying to give the watches back.

But on Friday, he found out he was being fined for bringing counterfeit goods into the United States.

How much? Korpi asked the agent, figuring it couldn't be much since he paid $14.40 for all eight watches.

$55,300, the official said.

"I about hit the floor," Korpi said in an interview with The Oregonian on Tuesday. "I said, 'You gotta be joking.' I figured someone had missed a decimal point."