Vall Iliev charged with smuggling body armor from China, selling it to police as American-made
[Watch in the player above: Fake body armor was sold to Akron Police Department's SWAT team.]
CLEVELAND (WJW) — Federal authorities have charged a Stow man with smuggling body armor plates made in China, then selling them to law enforcement agencies as American-made goods.
Vall Iliev, 69, of Stow, is accused of importing body armor from the People's Republic of China, then giving it a fake trademarked label to pass it off as a domestic product.
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The scheme went on from 2017 to October 2023, according to a Wednesday news release from Carol Skutnik, acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
In May 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at the U.S.-Canada border in Washington intercepted a truck carrying more than 200 ballistic body armor plates, concealed in pre-packaged boxes inside a large shipping container — a technique used by smugglers to evade port authorities.
The manufacturer of the plates could not be discerned, but they were marked as originating in China. The hidden boxes were pre-labeled with the address of Iliev's Stow business, Vallmar Studios, according to the release.
Authorities found the site to be a warehouse Iliev was using to process the smuggled body armor before selling it through ShotStop Ballistics, which he also owns.
The shop marketed the body armor as being 'Made in Stow, Ohio,' and as having ballistics testing certifications — of which investigators could find no actual evidence. Testing performed later at a ballistics lab found the plates failed to meet the standard that was advertised, according to the release.
Prosecutors say Iliev spent years working with a Chinese broker to find cheaply made body armor, which was shipped to Vallmar Studios. There, employees were told to put made-in-America and testing certification stickers on the goods.
Some of the stickers designated the goods as being 'Level III+' or 'Level IV+HD' certified, 'which are non-existent designations,' reads the release.
Investigators at Iliev's Stow businesses found no means of making body armor, though they did find a laser printer used to make the marketing stickers, according to the release.
Though Iliev's companies had once held a valid ballistics certification through the National Institute of Justice, the ballistic resistance of the Chinese body armor plates was never tested under the institute's standards, which 'are crucial for buyers to make informed purchases about a product's safety levels,' reads the release.
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Iliev is charged by information with counts of conspiracy to smuggle goods into the U.S., conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods and conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.
No future court dates have been set.
Anyone who purchased ballistic body armor from ShotStop from 2018 onward is urged to stop using it. They're also encouraged to send a copy of their invoice on the product to faultyarmor@hsi.dhs.gov, with the subject heading 'ShotStop Invoice,' no later than April 7.
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