Turks distributing fake liquor to Russians get 90-year jail
Four Turkish nationals were sentenced Monday to 90 years in prison after they were found guilty of lethal poisoning a group of Russian tourists in 2011, a lawyer said. Some 20 Russian tourists were hospitalized with severe alcohol poisoning in Bodrum in late May on their return from a sailing tour organised by a local company. Four of them died in Turkish hospitals, while another victim died later at a Moscow hospital. The lawyer, who represented the interests of a husband of one of the deceased tourists, said all four Turks were involved in production and distribution of fake alcohol. He also said that the owner of the yacht and two more organizers of the sailing tour were sentenced each to seven years in prison. The Turkish Ministry of Agriculture said in an official statement after the incident in 2011 that the methyl alcohol content in the fake whiskey, called Mister Burdon, was three times higher than normal. According to Turkish officials, a company called Jasmine imported the fake whiskey into Turkey from northern Cyprus. Some 12,000 bottles of the bogus whiskey were sold at local markets.
http://news.oneindia.in/2013/05/21/90-year-jail-for-turks-who-poisoned-russians-1221264.html
Lear MoreNewport News police charge man with possession of counterfeit DVDs
A 27-year-old Newport News man was arrested and charged Sunday after police say he was in possession of counterfeit DVDs. William T. Cofield was charged with selling a record without the owner’s consent, having a record with no manufacturers name on it and trespassing, according to Newport News City Jail records. At about 11 a.m. Sunday, a police officer sitting in an unmarked car saw a man pull out a stack of plain white covered DVDS for two people in the 2300 block of Jefferson Avenue, according to a Newport News Police Department news release.
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Russia: Chanel Sweatshop Dismantled, Over 7,200 Counterfeit Shoes Recovered
Russian interior ministry officers busted an underground sweatshop where more than 100 Chinese citizens produced counterfeit Chanel shoes in deplorable conditions, Just Media reported on Monday. The sweatshop, allegedly operated by an Armenian crime group, was located in the Sverdlovsk region near Yekaterinburg, in central Russia. Health and safety standards as well as working conditions were all below legal standards. The factory reeked of chemicals, and chemical waste was allegedly dumped directly into a nearby river, Just Media reported. The workers lived in an on-site barracks, and their actions and movements were watched and controlled. During the raid on the premises, authorities recovered over 3,600 pairs of counterfeit shoes branded as Chanel footwear. Chanel has been contacted by authorities, and samples of the counterfeits have been sent for comparison and analysis, Just Media reported. According to Chanel, the original shoes retail for around $800, meaning the counterfeits discovered during the raid alone could have cost the company as much $280,000 dollars in lost revenue.
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Chinese police destroy £ 21m of counterfeit designer goods
Chinese police destroyed £21 million of counterfeit designer goods on Thursday in a lavish publicity stunt aimed at showing the world they are cracking down on the illegal trade. Fake wine, cigarettes, handbags and cosmetics were all thrown on a fire in Guiyang, southwest China’s Guizhou Province. But authorities have a long way to go – a recent UN report revealed a staggering 75 percent of all fake goods seized worldwide from 2008 to 2010 were primarily from China. The World Customs Organization also said the booming industry accounts for some two percent of world trade despite it being considered a ‘soft’ form of crime. The UN report stated that counterfeit goods accounted for one third of the organised crime in East Asia and the Pacific is worth approximately $ 90 billion. Most counterfeits fall into four categories: CDs and DVDs; accessories, watches and footwear; tobacco products; and textiles.
Counterfeit commerce over the Internet has soared in the past couple of years, turning what had been an irritant to businesses into a serious competitive threat. Last year an entire city in China literally shut up shop when nearly all of its stores closed after it was falsely reported that officials were planning a clampdown on the sale of counterfeit products. Officials in Shenyang city were forced to beg store owners to reopen after 95 percent of shops remained closed. The online rumour sparked fears that the local council needed to get more revenue and had ordered taxmen to come down hard on shop owners.
Western countries have often complained China is woefully behind in its effort to stamp out the trade, although it has started to crack down. In November police arrested 73 people suspected of manufacturing and selling almost 1 million fake luxury bags in China.
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Nigeria: NAFDAC Arrests Businessman for Importing Counterfeit Medicines
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has said that it had arrested and investigated Mr. Olisaemeka Osefoh for importation of counterfeit medicines worth N106, 210, 000, into the country. The agency’s Director General, Dr. Paul Orhii, who disclosed this at a press conference, said, following a tip-off, operatives from NAFDAC investigation and enforcement directorate raided a warehouse located at Progressive Traders Market known for the sales of jewelleries and cosmetic products, within Trade Fair Complex, Badagry Expressway, Lagos. According to the DG the products were deliberately packed in plain cartons and wrapped in sacks to conceal their real identities, stressing that of note is that the Mycoten cream and Neurogesic ointment were labelled as manufactured in Nigeria, although they were imported. He said the culprit had been interrogated and his statement taken and had confessed being in business with a cartel based in China where the products were sourced and stored in their warehouse before being shipped to Nigeria. He added that he had also given investigators information on how the medicines were illegally cleared through Tincan Island Port, Lagos. Orhii said recent discovery has revealed that the drug counterfeiters now operate from markets that deal on other commodities so as not to draw the attention of law enforcement agencies on their nefarious activities. “However, I want to reiterate that there will be no sacred cow in the fight against counterfeit medicines, any counterfeiter arrested will be prosecuted according to the law of the land,” he said. He therefore appealed to members of the public, landlords and market unions to report any suspicious activity relating to NAFDAC-regulated products around their community to the nearest NAFDAC office for immediate action and see it as part of their contribution in the fight against counterfeit and fake products. Orhii also assured Nigerians that the agency is working closely with the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria to track down the criminal company in China who connived with the suspect (Osefoh), to ship into the country the counterfeit medicines.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201305161173.html
Lear MoreCounterfeit goods sales busted at swap shop
An undercover investigation in the sale of counterfeit goods with an actual retail value of over $400,000 at Old Salem Swap Shop has landed four people in jail. Undercover deputies with the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Department’s Narcotics and Vice Unit purchased items with labels such as Coach, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Michael Coors, True Religion, Polo, Lacoste, Timberland and Calvin Klein on numerous occasions before search warrants were executed on April 25. Since that time, four people were either arrested or turned themselves in on charges of selling goods with forged o counterfeit trademarks. According to Sheriff’s Investigator Michael Camp, the value of the seized merchandise would be $409,705 if the items were authentic and sold at retail price. Arrested on one charge each of selling counterfeit goods were Odawinnie Gunter, 34, and Pauline Morine Ferguson, 50, both of Conyers; Suliman Sillah, 23, of Atlanta; and Mellannie Gibbs, age and address unknown. A warrant has also been issued for a fourth subject who has not yet been located.
Lear MoreUnlike India, China not helping Nigeria stop fake drugs
Unlike India, China is not assisting in the fight against counterfeit medicines even though the influx has been mainly from that country, Nigeria`s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says. “Comparative analysis has shown that China is not doing anything to help the Nigerian government in its attempt to control the import of counterfeit medicines, even though much of these medicines have been traced to China,” NAFDAC spokesman Abubakar Jimoh told IANS on the phone from Nigerian capital Abuja. On the other hand, the Indian government “has joined hands with the Nigerian authorities to fight the influx and has thus reduced the flow of such medicines from India,” Jimoh added. Nigeria has been faced with the influx of counterfeit medicines over the years and has tried several methods to overcome the scourge. Last year the government proposed a bill providing stiffer punishment for organisations and individuals who may be arrested for dealing in the manufacture and sale of counterfeit medicine. The government at the time wanted to use the bill to protect local manufacturers against inferior imports that were selling cheap on the market. It was proposed to provide support to three agencies – Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) – to link their activities and work in concert. The government at the time promised to support to the organisations in the enforcement of regulations in the control of fake products. It has been revealed that NAFDAC has been able to bring the prevalence rate of fake drugs down to six percent from the 16.7 percent over the past five years. The proposed bill, however, turned out to be much ado about nothing as there was no movement forward. Jimoh`s comments come to confirm an earlier statement by NAFDAC director general Paul Orhii that most fake, substandard and counterfeit drugs imported and openly sold on the Nigerian market were from China through smuggling with the connivance of some unscrupulous persons whose only interest is to make money.
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Fake Dr Dre headphones ‘one of most seized items’
Some 200,000 pairs have been taken by officers and customs at UK ports. The organisation said it was the first time it had seen the mass production of counterfeit headphones. “It’s a trend – Dr Dre is a leading headphone and that’s what counterfeiters will go after,” Trading Standards’ Tony Shore told Radio 4’s You and Yours. Beats by Dr Dre are available in six different models that cost between £120 and £500, however you and yours found sets on sale at a market in Cambridge for £15. Trading Standards said it had never seen a problem with counterfeit headphones prior to this particular brand being released. “They’re quite sophisticated as a counterfeit item,” Mr Shore said. “Somebody is using the brand to make money illegally, which takes money out of future products.” Consumers are advised to check the wiring of the headphones and quality of the ear padding to check if it is a fake. Other signs include the cable not being detachable from the headphone. Beats by Dre had no comment on the issue, but offered tips on how to spot a counterfeit including only buying from authorised dealers. You and Yours asked Brit award-winning record producer Steve Levine to compare the fakes with the genuine product. He noted the packaging was “about two thirds of the size…it’s very flimsy”. He added music fans were better off spending £15 on headphones without a big brand name for decent quality music, rather than buying a copy. “[The fakes] probably cost about £1 to make – they are such rubbish headphones.” There has been a huge growth in the UK headphone market with sales reaching an all-time high. In 2012 more than 11 million pairs were sold – five million more than in 2008. Global market researcher GFK predicts headphones sales are likely to grow further as MP3 players drop in value – meaning it could be the biggest single part of the audio market in Great Britain by the end of 2013.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22469347
Lear MorePolice seize counterfeit Amway products
Police in Nanjing, in East China’s Jiangsu province, have seized 120,000 cartons of counterfeit Amway products worth more than 140 million yuan ($23 million), the biggest case since the US company entered the Chinese market in 1995. A report on the official website of People’s Daily, www.people.com.cn, said that nine sites were raided on April 2, with fake products seized and seven suspects arrested. Police then moved into seven provinces and destroyed various production and sales sites.
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2013-05/09/content_16488654.htm
Lear MoreMan, 85, tried to sell fake luxury handbags in West Boca, deputies say
At 85, Anthony Jenerosa Corbo was still working —peddling more than $200,000 in knockoff handbags and accessories from his car, Palm Beach County deputies say. Corbo bought counterfeit versions of high-end purses, watches and other accessories in New York’s Chinatown, then tried to sell them as the real thing at a strip mall parking lot in West Boca, according to a Sheriff’s Office arrest report. With brands like Prada, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton, among others stuffed into his 2012 Toyota Scion, Corbo opened for business at 6 p.m. on April 24 on West Palmetto Park Road west of Powerline Road, deputies said. His freelance sales venture was short-lived, however. The operation unraveled about an hour later when an anonymous tipster approached a sheriff’s deputy on a bike patrol in the area. The tipster said something seemed suspicious about the elderly man trying to sell merchandise from his car.
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