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Legal showdown over Louis Vuitton fakes at the Swap Shop begins

After years of trying to get the Swap Shop to stop traders from selling counterfeit products, luxury brand Louis Vuitton told jurors Tuesday it finally resorted to filing a civil suit against the owners of the massive Lauderhill flea market.

The ritzy designer company wants jurors in federal court in Fort Lauderdale to find Preston and Betty Henn liable and order them and their business to pay millions of dollars in penalties.

Louis Vuitton wants to punish the Henns, multimillionaires in their 80s, for being unable to do something that even the $30 billion brand has found impossible – eliminate designer knockoffs and the criminals who make and sell them, the defense told the jury in opening statements.