Does eBay Have 1.7 Million Counterfeit Products for Sale?
According to The Counterfeit Report, which tracks the sale of counterfeit or fake items on major e-commerce websites, eBay Inc.’s (NASDAQ: EBAY) sites have a huge number of these on sale that match the criteria. This begs the question whether the auction site has done enough to crack down on the practice.
There is a difference between counterfeit and fake items:
The eBay counterfeit products are trademarked replicas of real products, designed to take advantage of the superior value and reputation of the real product. The eBay fake products are products that do not even exist in the manufacturer’s product line, but are represented as the authentic branded product and bear the manufacturer’s registered trademark. Both are sold on eBay.
The Counterfeit Report actually buys a number of the products on eBay and reports them to the auction company.
http://247wallst.com/retail/2016/08/24/does-ebay-have-1-7-million-counterfeit-products-for-sale/
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FDA Warns Public On Fake ‘Tomato Powder’
The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has advised the public to be wary of the production, distribution and sale of a reddish powdered product sold as ‘Tomato powder’ on the Ghanaian market.
A statement signed by Mr HuduMogtari, the Chief Executive Officer of the FDA, and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said investigations conducted by the FDA on the so called, ‘Tomato powder’ revealed that there was no tomato present in the substance.
https://www.newsghana.com.gh/fda-warns-public-on-fake-tomato-powder/
Iraqi mission staff fined over cigarette smuggling
Two officials working at the Iraqi diplomatic mission in Geneva have received stiff fines for a huge cigarette smuggling scam. Some 600,000 packets of cigarettes were sold on the black market in northwest France.
The two Iraqi permanent mission staff members were fined CHF170,000 ($177,000) and CHF120,000 for the cigarette smuggling ring, which owed CHF2.4 million in unpaid tax.
The Federal Customs Administration on Monday confirmed a SonntagsZeitung report which stated that they had abused privileges normally reserved for diplomats and illegally resold duty-free cigarettes in France over a three-year period.
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/up-in-smoke_iraqi-mission-staff-fined-over-cigarette-smuggling/42392144
Lamèque man pleads guilty to possession of contraband tobacco
FREDERICTON (GNB) – Félix Antoine Savoie, 61, of Lamèque, pleaded guilty in provincial court in Bathurst on Aug. 14 to possessing more than 20,000 illegal cigarettes. Savoie was charged under section 121.1 (4)(a) of the Criminal Code of Canada as well as sections 2.2(1)(a) and 2.2(1.6) of theTobacco Tax Act of New Brunswick. Fines totaling $27,950.40 were imposed.
The guilty plea follows enforcement activities of June 30 where the Bathurst City Police and the Contraband Enforcement Unit of the Department of Justice and Public Safety, working in partnership, intercepted Savoie and found him in possession of illegal cigarettes.
The contraband tobacco market is estimated to represent a revenue loss to the province of $13 million annually.
Revenues from the sale of illegal tobacco are often funnelled into organized crime. Manufacturers of illegal tobacco products are not subject to standards or inspections.
http://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/news/news_release.2016.08.0775.html
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Patra police make arrests over contraband smokes
Police in Patra, on Wednesday detained three Pakistani nationals, aged 37, 33 and 15, believed to be members of a racket trading in contraband tobacco in the western port.
Initially officers arrested the 37-year-old after finding around 2 kilograms of contraband tobacco in his possession. A subsequent search on the suspect’s home turned up 1,200 packets of contraband cigarettes.Later in the day, officers tracked down the other two Pakistanis on a motorcycle carrying 310 packets of contraband cigarettes and half a kilo of contraband tobacco.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/210965/article/ekathimerini/news/patra-police-make-arrests-over-contraband-smokes
SA, Zimbabwe goods smuggling incidents on the rise
The ban on some foreign import goods in Zimbabwe has resulted in the increase of incidents of smuggling by informal traders and private people along the border across the Limpopo River.
The Beitbridge Border Post between South Africa and Zimbabwe is one of the busiest ports of entries in the country which operates on a 24-hour basis.
Travellers who use the border into Zimbabwe are now required to only carry a limited number of some goods.
Zimbabwe introduced the ban last month and some Zimbabweans and South Africans protested against the move.
Smuggling, corruption, high costs, lack of government support have destroyed Guyana’s manufacturing
There are several factors that contributed to the demise of Guyana’s once thriving manufacturing sector. Smuggling is the number one killer of Guyana’s manufacturing industry; as well as the high cost of financing, poor legal service, high cost of electricity and water (in the land of many waters), untrained workers, high turnover of workers due to poor wages and immigration; business owners’ stinginess with investment in training, workers’ welfare, aesthetic packaging, new efficient machinery and equipment, and facilities maintenance. Government support for local manufacturers is negligible and discriminating; the service from local public servants and bureaucrats is like the movement of molasses unless they are bribed. Here are a few scenarios that are destructive to local manufacturing.
http://www.stabroeknews.com/2016/opinion/letters/08/22/smuggling-corruption-high-costs-lack-government-support-destroyed-guyanas-manufacturing/
SI 64 will fuel smuggling
Industry has said government’s recent import restrictions are going to fuel more smuggling the country amid indications that Zimbabwe lost an estimated $1 bln the scourge this year.
Consumer council of Zimbabwe executive director Rosemary Siyachitema and Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce chief executive Christopher Mugaga said the implementation of statutory instrument (SI) 64 of 2016 was going to increase smuggling incidents and cash leakages.
http://bulawayo24.com/index-id-news-sc-national-byo-94806.html
Lear MoreThis is what £72k in cash looks like – seized from couple who ran illegal tobacco shop from home
A 73-year-old Forest of Dean man and his wife ran a contraband cigarette and tobacco shop from their home for several years, a court heard today.
Trading standards officers who raided the home of Harold and Susan Bennett in Mushet Place, Coleford, last summer found more than £20,000 worth of illicit tobacco products and a ‘significant’ amount of cash, said prosecutor Jonathan Fuller at Gloucester Crown Court.
Bennett and his 62-year-old wife admitted three charges of making unauthorised use of the Mayfair and Regal cigarette trademarks and the Amber Leaf tobacco trademark on July 24 last year.
Man confesses role in smuggling fake $100 billion
Clinton Walker, 34, confessed to his role in the conspiracy to bring in at least $400,000 in fake U.S. Federal Reserve notes into America from Nigeria.
The fake $100 bills were sold at a price of 40 cents on the dollar and were distributed to several people. Walker sold and delivered at least 11 counterfeit notes to a female minor in January, federal prosecutors said.
Walker was arrested in March. Investigators found more than 300 counterfeit bills that he admitted intending to sell as well.
In addition to the prison sentence for one count each of dealing in counterfeit securities and conspiracy, Walker could be fined up to $250,000 for his part in the counterfeit ring.