State claims Denali business owner made misleading claims

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – The State of Alaska is intervening in the possibly fraudulent business operations of one gift shop located outside of Denali Park & Preserve.

According to the Department of Law, Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor obtained a temporary restraining order on Monday against the owner of The Himalayan, also known as Mt. McKinley Clothing Co. The restraining order outlaws the business from selling any items that lack the “proper country of origin marking.”

“My office will not tolerate false claims that products were made by Alaska Natives or that proceeds from sales will be used for charitable purposes,” Attorney General Treg Taylor said in a release. “We will not allow businesses that lie to consumers to gain an unfair competitive advantage over the many excellent stores that sell legitimate Alaskan Made or Alaska Native products.”

In a complaint filed by Attorney General Taylor against The Himalayan, Sunil Thapa, his wife, Trishna Thapa, and son, Tejash Thapa, deceived shoppers by claiming their products were made by and benefitted Alaska Natives in Yakutat. The complaint says the products were actually imported from foreign countries and were later marked with ‘Made in Alaska’ tags.

A state investigator made several trips to the store this summer to investigate the store’s claims regarding the Alaska origins of its products. On one visit, Sunil Thapa said, “You are in the truly tribal store of Alaska from Yakutat.” Sunil Thapa said that the store was actually a nonprofit, Alaska Natives in Yakutat donated their work to the store and all the money made from purchases went back to Yakutat to “build schools and fund charities in Yakutat.”

“Sunil also told the investigator that the store’s alpaca clothing was made from alpacas that are farmed in Yakutat,” the release stated.

Investigators found there was no such thing as the “Yakutat Village Council” referenced by Tejash Thapa, and that the defendants “had no relationship” with the City and Borough of Yakutat or Yakutat Tlingit Tribe.

Alaska’s News Source reached out to the defendants but did not immediately receive a response.

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