Importing duplicating fbx models into Maya

Hello,

I’ve wrote a python script to import fbx files into Maya but when trying import the same fbx twice it would not import a duplicate. I worked around this by creating the duplicate fbx as a reference than converted back to a standard mesh. I’m finding I’m getting duplicate materials. Does anyone know an easier way to import duplicate fbx’s or a way to fix duplicate materials from being created. Here is the current code I’m using:

        if not does_fbx_exist_scene:
            # If fbx does not exist within scene then import.
            new_nodes = cmds.file(model_path, absoluteName=False,  i=True)
            print(f"FBX piece imported as: {selected_model_name}")
        # If nothing was added to the scene, import as reference
        else:
            # If fbx does exist within scene then import as ref and use scene namespace as name.
            # Then convert ref to mesh object!
            cmds.file(model_path, mnc=True, reference=True)
            # Make reference part of the scene
            cmds.file(model_path, importReference=True)
            ref_name = cmds.ls(f"{selected_model_name}*", type="transform")[-1]

Thanks