LONG ISLAND BROTHERS ARRESTED FOR SOPHISTICATED MILLION DOLLAR HEALTH PRODUCTS KNOCKOFF SCAM

A pair of Long Island brothers cooked up millions of dollars worth of knockoff health products like Vaseline, baby oil, ChapStick and Vicks VapoRub — and the items ended up on store shelves as the real thing.

The sophisticated operation — described as the largest-ever uncovered in the US — had five manufacturing facilities that pumped out the bogus concoctions, which included potentially dangerous versions of the popular, over-the-counter products.

Investigators raided locations in Franklin Square, Oceanside, Freeport and Valley Stream Thursday and needed four tractor-trailer trucks to haul off fake products worth more than $2 million, authorities said.

“Health and beauty products like lip balms, oils, shampoos and inhalers are highly regulated in order to protect consumers, but these defendants are charged with going around those protections and stealing the brands of major corporations that comply with the law,” DA Kathleen Rice said.

Ringleaders Pardeep Malik, 59, of Plainview and Hamant Mullick, 60, of Franklin Square were charged with felony trademark counterfeiting and were being held on $100,000 bonds. The brothers employed about 20 people in the ring.

The lucrative racket was only uncovered after a fire broke out in April 2013 at the brothers’ Valley Stream location.

Firefighters returned to the scene in January to follow up on their investigation and stumbled across the suspicious-looking goods, Rice said.

Samples were sent to the manufacturers for testing, and when they turned out to be fakes, Nassau authorities teamed up with US Food and Drug Administration officials to investigate.

While the products looked real, they didn’t pass the smell test.

The fake VapoRub, for example, smelled like a weaker version of the pungent menthol and eucalyptus cold remedy.

Other clues included packages with faint expiration dates, officials added.

The products — which also included Johnson’s Baby Oil, Vicks Inhaler and Always sanitary pads — are still being tested for safety, but authorities have not received any complaints from customers about being sickened by any of the fakes, Rice said.