Colombian star designer Nancy Gonzalez’s fall was sudden and spectacular: she was taken in handcuffs from her luxury home in Cali to a prison cell in Bogota last week, where she was accused of smuggling protected animal skin purses into the United States.
The 77-year-old is now awaiting a Colombian judge’s decision on whether to extradite her to the United States, where she faces a 25-year prison sentence.
Selling for thousands of dollars each, Gonzalez purses, clutches and wallets have appeared on runways and television shows, and graced the shelves of high-end stores around the world.
But more than 200 caiman and python skin products sold in the United States were illegally imported, according to an April 26 indictment by prosecutors in Florida’s South District.
Between February 2016 and April 2019, Gonzalez and two employees of her company Gzuniga, the indictment said, conspired to smuggle bags made of protected animal skins without the permit required under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
The defendants brought the goods to the Gzuniga showroom in New York City to “enrich themselves by selling the contraband in the United States,” the indictment said.
Allegedly, individuals were paid to bring the bags on commercial flights from Colombia to New York and told to lie about the origin of the goods if asked.
Gonzalez and her co-defendant face one count of conspiracy and two counts of smuggling.
– No ‘black market’ –
According to their website, Gonzalez bags are handmade in their hometown of Cali by a team of artisans.
According to the website, her bags are sold at over 300 luxury retailers, including Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Harrod’s and Tsum.
Her designs were also featured in an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
According to specialized portals, Gonzalez’s famous clients include Salma Hayek, Britney Spears and Victoria Beckham.
According to the Florida indictment, the animals that provided the skins were not on the CITES endangered list, but fell under a category of species “that needed to be controlled to avoid uses incompatible with survival.”
This means that trading products derived from such an animal required a permit, which Gonzalez allegedly failed to obtain.
Elmer Montana, an attorney for one of Gonzalez’s employees, told AFP that the skins used to make the bags were “sourced from Nancy Gonzalez … from certified farms overseen by the Department of the Environment.”
“These aren’t pelts she buys on the black market” in one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, where the reptile trade is rife.
Footage released by Colombian prosecutors showed the glamorous businesswoman being taken away in handcuffs after a raid on her luxury home in Cali last week.
A court must now rule on their extradition to the United States, a process that defense attorneys say could take weeks or even months.
A judge denied Gonzalez’s bail application pending a decision.
#Colombian #designer #faces #fate #smuggling
