Homeland Security helps APD crackdown on fake merchandise
In the last few weeks, investigators with the Austin Police Department have come across some of the hottest apparel, beauty and fitness items on the market. The only problem: they say it’s all fake.
Working off tips from the Department of Homeland Security, APD organized crime detectives arrested Evelyn Teresa Carewicz, 36, and IrfanbhaiBarkataliMomin, 36 in two different cases. Each face a state jail felony charge of trademark counterfeiting.
Concern over fake hair gel
PEOPLE have been urged to be careful of fake products being sold in local supermarkets. This after a Lautoka-based hair gel factory discovered samples of their hair gel being circulated using their brand name without their consent. Formosa Chemicals Industries manager Sunil Kumar said the fake Chiadin hair gel products were recently discovered in some supermarkets in Suva.
He said the company officials were concerned that the fake hair gel could damage the skin. “We are worried that anything serious could happen to those that are using the fake gel because our company name is on the gel containers,” said Mr Kumar.
Counties to play central role in war against counterfeits
The Anti-Counterfeit Agency (ACA) has said it will work with county governments to stamp out the trade in fraudulently imitated products. ACA’s acting Deputy Director for Research and Awareness, Agnes Karingu, said the agency is incorporating the devolved units owing to their role in regulating trading activities. She said studies had shown that Trans Nzoia County, for instance, which is an agricultural zone, is grappling with a proliferation of counterfeit agricultural products, which have affected farmers’ yields. “Top on the list are counterfeit maize seeds from the Kenya Seed Company. These are sold by unscrupulous traders to unsuspecting farmers, which affects their productivity and, in turn, increases poverty levels,” Ms Karingu said. The agency also asked police officers to pay the same attention to combating counterfeiting as they do other crimes.
Power banks: Be careful when shopping, says official
Ministry man says lack of manpower hampers checks on products and traders, urges everyone to help. Consumers must exercise caution when purchasing products especially when deals seem too good to be true, says Alias Ahmad, secretary-general of the domestic trade and consumerism ministry. Alias said the ministry was investigating a complaint about mobile phone battery power banks found to be filled with sand. The ministry constantly checked on traders and the products they sold, but lacked sufficient manpower, he said.
However, consumers must also exercise caution by checking on a brand’s reputation and the warranty on a product before making a purchase and not be drawn too easily by a product’s cheap price.
Police uncover counterfeit spare parts business
The Jakarta Police said Thursday that they had uncovered a counterfeit motorcycle parts business with revenue of Rp 300 million (US$22,168) per month in Cengkareng, West Jakarta.
The Jakarta Police’s industry and trade division director Sr. Adj. Comr. AgungMarlianto said the business, which had operated for about seven years, repacked non-branded low-quality spare parts with well-known brands before distributing them to auto-part shops around the capital at lower prices than the originals.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/02/19/police-uncover-counterfeit-spare-parts-business.html
Lear MoreAnti-Contraband Enforcement Unit Important Step in Fighting Organized Crime
The National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco (NCACT) welcomed the confirmation of the setup of New Brunswick’s new Contraband Tobacco Enforcement Unit. It was confirmed this week that the new, 9-member team will be in place by the spring and have the same authority as police.
“Experience in Quebec has shown that dedicated enforcement is an effective tool to reducing contraband. In that province, tough anti-contraband measures introduced in 2009 have led to a 50% decrease in contraband,” said Gary Grant, a 39-year veteran of the Toronto Police Service and spokesperson for NCACT. “New Brunswick still has much work to do, and recent tax increases introduced in the last budget will only make this challenge more difficult,” continued Grant. “Anti-contraband measures really must be given a chance to work before changes to the legal market should be considered.”
Counterfeit airbags a ‘clear danger to the public’
Police have arrested a man believed to be linked with the online sale of almost 700 counterfeit vehicle airbags. Detectives believe as many as 680 people made purchases from an individual selling counterfeit and potentially dangerous airbags and airbag covers on eBay.
Nearly 150 people or businesses purchased suspected counterfeit Honda CRV and Accord safety devices. Officers from the City of London Police’s Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) are currently establishing if the remaining products are imitations of other manufacturer car parts.
On February 18, PIPCU, with assistance from Dorset Police, arrested a 34-year-old man in Blandford Forum, North Dorset, on suspicion of counterfeiting and money laundering offences. So far officers have seized approximately 100 suspected counterfeit airbags, as well as a large quantity of airbag components, financial documents and computers. The man has since been released on bail pending further inquiries.
PMI: We have common ground with EU on tobacco smuggling
In recent months, there has been a great deal of talk in Brussels about the measures used to tackle the illegal trade in tobacco products, notably the 12-year anti-illicit trade agreement between the European Commission, member states and Philip Morris International (PMI), which ends later this year.
The question of whether or not the agreement is renewed has become the defining feature of this debate. Portraying this as an issue dividing interested parties into opposing camps may make for good headlines, but in reality, there is more common ground about what is needed to fight the illicit trade than is often assumed.
https://euobserver.com/opinion/132325
Lear MoreContraband Tobacco: Imprisonment And Fines For Offenders 8
Revenu Quebec announced Thursday that eight people convicted of tobacco smuggling offenses were sentenced to pay fines totaling more than $ 1,073,000 within 24 months.One of them, Charles Patenaude, Saint-Cesaire, was also sentenced to serve a prison sentence of one month concurrently with another sentence of two months, having been in possession of some 35,000 illegal cigarettes.
Convicts are in particular been criticized for having sold, delivered or was in possession of tobacco intended for retail sale in Quebec and whose package was not identified in accordance with the Act. Moreover, they were not registered with Revenu Quebec and were holders of any of the permits required by law to conduct commercial activities related to tobacco products.
Fighting the Counterfeiting Mafia
At a foundry in Linqing, in the middle of Shandong Province in eastern China, six trucks stand in a courtyard, each filled with counterfeit roller bearings in plastic bags. One after another, the bags are tossed into a burning hot smelter.
The names of well-known German brand names INA and FAG, both owned by the German company Schaeffler are visible on the roller bearings. In the last few months, Chinese authorities raided more than 300,000 counterfeit parts made to resemble German manufacturer Schaeffler’s two brands, and are destroying them, in a public display of incineration. Chinese television crews stand by to film it all.