World Anti-Counterfeiting Day
08/06/2021
FICCI’s Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy (CASCADE) organised a webinar on ‘Consumer Protection in the COVID Age’ on the occasion of World Anti-Counterfeiting Day on 8th June 2021. This day enables national and international organizations involved in the fight against counterfeit products to increase consumer awareness of the risks and costs associated with buying fakes, and to encourage consumers to better understand the seriousness of the problem.
Mr Anil Rajput, Chairman, FICCI CASCADE welcomed all the participants and stated, “the Covid-19 virus and illicit trade have a lot in common, both cause immense economic, social and individual distress.” Applauding the enforcement officers who have relentlessly pursued the smugglers and counterfeiters; and seized many contraband and fake products during the current crisis, Mr Rajput urged them to keep up the good work which would ensure that the perpetrators of crime did not see the covid-19 situation as a reason to exploit vulnerable consumers and organizations.
Mr Hem Kumar Pande, Former Secretary, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, GoI chaired the session and observed that consumer awareness has become an important part of the anti-counterfeiting strategy in developed economies. On the flipside, in developing countries, it is still a major challenge. “The ‘Jaago Grahak Jaago’ campaign of the Indian Government has received reasonable success with urban consumers looking out for the safety and genuineness of the product. But we still have a long way to go to inculcate and develop a sense of responsibility amongst the rural consumer base”, he added.
Mr Shibesh Singh, Additional Commissioner (Crime), Delhi Police said, “there has been a significant rise of frauds against public during the second wave of the coronavirus”. During the recent wave of the pandemic, he said, the Delhi police were able to block almost 550 fraud bank accounts, seized more than 1.25 crore rupees, and suspended almost 1500 sim cards. Highlighting the problem of black marketing and selling of counterfeit, fake, spurious covid cure products, Mr Singh said, “with the help of local enforcement agencies, Delhi police arrested more than 300 black marketeers and broke the backbone of COVID related crime syndicate”.
Emphasizing the unwavering efforts of the DRI officers during the unprecedented coronavirus crisis, Mr Rajesh Pandey, Principal Additional Director General, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence said, “during the pandemic year, DRI has seized 984 Kgs of gold & illicit cigarette sticks worth more than Rs. 100 crores along with seizures a large amount of heroin, cocaine, hashish, opium, and synthetic drugs.” He added that the Covid 19 pandemic impacted manufacturing and trade, and the gap was filled with counterfeit and smuggled products. Hence, law enforcement and trade & industry must work more closely so that illicit activities can be neutralised to a great extent.
Commemorating this year’s World Anti-Counterfeiting Day, the FICCI CASCADE’s webinar marks a crucial milestone to further discuss how amid the COVID emergency, counterfeiting has changed over the past months, while looking at the anti-illicit efforts that are needed in the coming days. Industry panellists from Amazon, Johnson and Johnson and Underwriters Laboratories agreed that the ultimate goal should be to identify and sever illicit products and their sellers before they have a chance to create a negative experience for our consumers. Amazon, for example, have blocked 10 billion suspected sellers and seized more than 2 million products.
Moreover, it was agreed that a co-ordinated action is the need of the hour as no single company or sector can fight counterfeiting alone. While legitimate manufacturers hold the information necessary to distinguish their products from the fakes in the market, E-commerce platforms have information about the third-party sellers dealing in fake products. Likewise, search providers have a broad view of how actors can move across different platforms, while payment providers are a critical part in tracing illicit gains to counterfeiters and cutting off their access. Input from each of these sources is necessary to allow both the government and private sector to have full insight into the paths of counterfeit and smuggled goods; and to track those who are responsible.
Routine Vehicle Check Yields Fake Currency Notes Worth Rs 53 Lakh
A routine vehicle check by Gandhinagar police yielded a large consignment of fake currency notes worth Rs 53.8 lakh. A man and woman were arrested by Mansa police. Interestingly, the duo had learnt to print fake notes online from YouTube.
Mansa police intercepted a two-wheeler on April 30. On checking the bag of the rider, cops found brand new currency notes in the denomination of Rs 2,000, Rs 500 and Rs 100. Suspecting the currency to be fake, further investigation revealed that Santoshkumar Raval (40) had stacked Rs 53.8 lakh fake currency notes at his residence.
Accused led two lives with wife, paramour
Raval’s interrogation revealed he lived with his wife and son while being in a relationship with one Vaishali Chaudhary. Raval ran two households, one with his wife and son and another with Vaishali. He came in contact with Vaishali who taught at a tuition class where his son studied. He had entered into a relationship with Vaishali seven years ago. Raval and Vaishali hatched a conspiracy to print fake currency notes. Raval scanned the currency notes and printed them while Vaishali cut the notes using a paper cutter.
Mansa PI Jatin Prajapati said, “The accused had printed more than Rs 53 lakh worth of fake currency notes but were yet to put it into circulation.”
Lear More
Mumbai Crime: Fake goods worth Rs 26.44 lakh seized; one held
One person was arrested and fake goods related to hygiene, sanitization and other products worth Rs 26.44 lakh were seized by Turbhe police from Gami Industrial Park at Pawane MIDC on Sunday.
The accused has been identified as Vinod Dubriya (32).A by
Cops received a tip off that counterfeit goods of popular brands like Godrej, Hindustan Unilever, Dabur India, IC Solutions and others were being manufactured at Gala number 64 at Gami Industrial Park in Pawane MIDC.
On Sunday evening around 6.40 pm, Turbhe cops raided the place and found products with copied labels and raw materials to produce handwash, toilet and floor cleaners and other products worth Rs 26.44 lakh rupees.
“Acting on specific information we raided Gala number 64 and found the goods. Some of them were being used for sanitization purposes,” said Rajendra Avdhad, senior inspector, Turbhe police station. “Such counterfeit products can be very dangerous as it doesn’t have the ratio of certain materials as per the formulas” he added.
Turbhe cops have booked Dubriya under IPC section 420 (cheating) and relevant sections of Trademark Act 1999, Copyright Act 1957.
Lear More
35 lakh tablets, 2 quintal tramadol powder seized
As many as 35 lakh tablets and two quintals of tramadol powder were seized by the police during a raid conducted on Orison Pharmaceutical, Kala Amb, today, said SP, Sirmaur, Khushal Sharma.
The police registered a case of cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy and under the NDPS Act against the firm last evening. The Punjab Police raided the company on May 30 and irregularities were found in its record pertaining to marketing of tramadol tablets.
The assistant drugs controller, Nahan, had ordered it to stop production after a show-cause notice issued to the management. The stock was also freezed.
Since tramadol is used as an intoxicant, its diversion was a cause for concern for the authorities. The Ajnala police had seized 4,500 tablets in Punjab.
Police sources said the tablet Celcidal-100 SR seized from Punjab was marketed by PP Pharma, A-1 Park Plaza, Bandra, Mumbai, while another tablet Calvidol-100 SR, which also contains tramadol, was found marketed by New Care Healthcare, Ahmedabad.
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/himachal/35-lakh-tablets-2-quintal-tramadol-powder-seized-263053
Lear More
Couple held in Telangana’s Warangal for printing fake currency
WARANGAL: Task Force police arrested a couple for printing fake currency notes at their home in Warangal city on Wednesday. Based on a tip-off, the police raided the house and seized Rs 10.96 lakh in fake currency notes of Rs 2,000, Rs 500, Rs 200, Rs 100, Rs 50, Rs 20 and Rs 10.
The accused were identified as Vagari Ramesh, 55, and his wife Vagari Saraswati, 45 – residents of Kasibugga.
Speaking to the media, Warangal Police Commissioner Dr Tarun Joshi said that the couple bought a colour printer and scanner and printed copies of currency notes at their home. These photocopies were then cut into the size of genuine notes and stacked in bundles of 100 notes each.
After printing the notes, they circulated the counterfeit currency in shops at Hanamkonda and Warangal. The Task Force police launched an investigation following several complaints of counterfeit notes circulating in shops in the city.
Lear More
Excise seizes illicit liquor, fake notes worth over Rs 1L
Thiruvananthapuram: Based on a tip-off, a team of excise officers at Vamanapuram range on Wednesday seized counterfeit currency notes with a face value of over Rs 1.60 lakh while conducting a raid on an illicit liquor brewing centre. The officers also seized 40 litres of illicit liquor and 1,220 litres of wash from the centre that functioned in a house at Thattupalam near Madathara under Palode police station limits outside the city.
The person who was running the brewing centre fled seeing the officers approaching. A search has been launched to track down the suspect, who has been identified as Irshad, a resident of Kochalummood.
Vamanapuram excise range inspector G Mohankumar, who led the team, said Irshad was a habitual offender who was arrested by the officers of the same range during the first phase of the Covid-induced lockdown last year with 15 litres of illicit liquor and 1,050 litres of wash.
“It turns out that the suspect had rented the house 20 days ago,” the inspector said. Irshad was also into the business of earth moving and owned a few excavators. According to the house owner, Irshad rented the house for providing accommodation for his employees. But there was no one else except Irshad in the house when the officers raided the house.
Lear More
CBP Seizes $4M in Fake Apple, JBL items
HOUSTON – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers working at the Houston seaport intercepted over 70,000 various counterfeit Apple and JBL electronics with a combined Manufactured Suggested Retail Price over $4M.
Nearly 500 counterfeit Apple Watch like this one was seized in Houston. The items were shipped from China and were seized because of intellectual property rights violations.
“Transnational criminal organizations are relentless in their effort to fund their illegal activities by manufacturing poor imitations of authentic designer brands,” said Houston CBP Port Director Roderick Hudson. “Many consumers are unaware that these types of illegal activities can involve forced labor and human trafficking. This seizure illustrates our commitment to protecting our nation’s economy and consumers from those intent on defrauding businesses and consumers alike.”
Counterfeit items valued at over $4M were seized including JBL speakers.
When the shipment arrived to Houston, CBP officers examined it and discovered various Apple products including Air Pod Pros, Apple Watches, Lightning Cables, protective cases and JBL speakers. Images of the items were sent to the trademark holders who confirmed the items were counterfeit. While the domestic value of these items is $1,624,479.67, had these items been genuine, the MSRP would have reached $4,061,224.66.
https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-media-release/cbp-seizes-4m-fake-apple-jbl-items
Lear More
Ajman Police seize 120,000 counterfeit products of top fashion brands
Ajman: The General Command of Ajman Police seized nearly 120,000 fake items with a street value of Dh30 million.
Brigadier General Khaled Mohammad Al Nuaimi, Deputy Director General of Police Operations, said a report was received by the Criminal Investigation Department from some international companies, stating that there were a group of shops in the emirate of Ajman that were selling counterfeit goods bearing trademarks of well-known international brands. After verifying the authenticity of the claim, police formed a team to investigate the issue and conduct a search on the shops.
The police raid on the shops unearthed several counterfeit products of reputed international brands. The items seized included leather products, clothes, accessories, watches and frames of renowned fashion brands. All the counterfeit items were confiscated and appropriate legal measures were initiated against the violators .
Lear More
Ahmedabad: Absconder caught with Rs 30 lakh in fake currency notes
AHMEDABAD: A 40-year-old man from Mansa of Gandhinagar was caught in the net of cops with fake currency notes of Rs 30L face value, mostly in denomination of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500, said officers. He had allegedly printed the currency notes to repay bank and individual loans.
Inspector Jatin Prajapati of Mansa police station said that the accused Santosh Raval, resident of Panchalpura village was stopped by his team at Gram Bharti Crossroads when he was passing from there on his motorcycle. He said that Raval had been held earlier by Gandhinagar police in 2016 and 2017 cases in which his bail was cancelled as he did not pay certain amounts as instructed by the local court, and he had been absconding since then.
When cops checked the bag that he was carrying on his motorcycle, they found that it was stuffed with currency notes. During prima facie inquiry, cops came to know that all the currency notes were fake and printed by the accused himself.
Cops said that Raval had 1,137 notes in denomination of Rs 2,000 (total Rs 22.74 lakh); 1,204 notes in denomination of Rs 500 (Rs 6.02 lakh) and 1,240 currency notes in denomination of Rs 100 (Rs 1.24 lakh) in the bag.
Prajapati said that they called forensic experts and a bank manager who confirmed all the currency notes were fake.
Lear More
Four arrested for possessing raw material to make fake notes; Rs 4.52 crore seized
According to police, the accused allegedly earned Rs 4.5 crore by sale of counterfeit notes.
As many as four persons were arrested in Gandhinagar on Saturday for allegedly possessing raw materials for manufacturing fake currency notes of face value Rs 58 lakh. Police also seized Rs 4.52 crore in cash from them.
According to police, Mohammad Safi Vohra and Firoz Vohra — residents of Anand, and Vinayak Nikam and Chirag alias Pintu from Vadodara were arrested by Gandhinagar police Local Crime Branch near ST Bus depot.
“We received a tip-off that four members of a gang involved in the circulation of fake currency notes were seen near ST bus depot in their car. A team apprehended the accused and the car was searched when we found bundles of paper with print of Rs 2000 denomination (which would be cut later to resemble the currency) of face value Rs 58 lakh. We also found Rs 4.5 crore genuine cash from the car,” said a senior officer of Gandhinagar Police.
According to police, the accused allegedly earned Rs 4.5 crore by sale of counterfeit notes.
Lear More