£110k cash handover leads to smuggling gang downfall
A south Armagh man who unwittingly brought down a UK crime gang after he was caught with more than £100,000 of their cash has walked free from court on a suspended sentence for money laundering. Vincent McGeough, from the Caramoyle Estate in Keady, was part of a gang involved in the smuggling of hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of illicit cigarettes, tobacco and alcohol into the UK.
REVEALED: Counterfeit cigarettes on sale throughout Tooting as reporter goes undercover with former Met Police officer
The illicit cigarette trade costs the treasury £2.1bn a year – and it is happening right under our noses. At corner shops, in car washes, and in transactions outside tube stations, people are buying and selling untaxed cigarettes smuggled into the country by organised criminal networks.In the worst instances, counterfeit cigarettes are pumped full of anything from rat droppings, to human faeces.
Pounding the streets week in, week out, to help this trade come to an end is Will O’Reilly and his team.A former officer in the Metropolitan Police, Mr O’Reilly has now turned his attention to spotting and rooting out those who sell counterfeit and contraband cigarettes.
The work takes the team around the country, scouting out towns and testing shops and pubs for the goods, before passing the information they’ve gleaned onto trading standards and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.
http://vietnamnews.vn/opinion/281329/counterfeiters-more-sophisticated.html
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FDA slaps notices on two for supplying fake ghee in Indore
The food and drugs administration issued notices to two people on Tuesday after a laboratory examination revealed that they were supplying fake products of branded ghee to several parts of Indore.
About 160 kilogram ghee or clarified butter was seized from Loha Mandi area in December last year during a raid. The lab tests revealed that the product was made entirely out of vanaspati (vegetable fat) and oil instead of milk products.
Foreign brands unite to fight fakes
NEW DELHI: Two weeks ago, lawyers from Tommy Hilfiger, Lacoste, Calvin Klein, Levi’s, Superdry among other foreign companies confiscated thousands of fake apparels after a court-aided raid on the New Delhi warehouse of online retailer Stylemyway.com.
Some months before that, US-based headphone maker Skullcandy dragged Paytm to court for allegedly selling fake products while Ray-Ban got court injunction to stop Shopclues from selling counterfeit sunglasses. Foreign companies are increasingly taking legal recourse to stop the proliferation of counterfeit products being sold by unscrupulous vendors on various e-commerce sites and are even coming together to fight online fakes.
Smuggled cigarettes worth ₹8 cr seized
Directorate of Revenue Intelligence officials have seized ₹8 crore worth of smuggled foreign-made cigarettes from a ship at the International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT) here. About 27,000 cartons of four brands of cigarettes, including Dunhill, had been concealed in a container which claimed to contain blankets and bed-sheets.
The ship had arrived from Jabel Ali seaport in the UAE. It is said smuggling of international cigarette brands into India has been on the rise for some time. Because of the high duties and taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products in India, smuggling is very lucrative. Cigarette smuggling is said to be relatively easy, faced little competition and turned in huge profit margins for the smuggler
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Arrest made in Revision-aided sting operation against Chinese counterfeit ballistic eyewear
Vermont Business Magazine Revision Military, based in Essex Junction, Vermont, a world leader in integrated, purpose-built soldier solutions, aided a sting operation to arrest owners and representatives of a Chinese company illegally manufacturing and selling counterfeit eyewear. The operation was carried out on January 28th at the SnowSports Industries America (SIA) Snow Show in Denver, Colorado.Guangzhou Botai Optical Visor Co., Ltd. (“Guangzhou Botai”) U.S. representative and part owner, Gong Peiwen, also known as Daniel Gong, was arrested on the showroom floor.
Shoppers warned about possible fake items at stores as scammers ‘return’ counterfeit goods
Indianapolis, Ind. – According to The Counterfeit Report, this is the time of year criminals will buy expensive items only to go back to the store and make returns using counterfeit goods.
The Counterfeit Report said counterfeit lab testing of fragrances revealed gross ingredients like urine and antifreeze and counterfeit Apple iPhone chargers have been known to cause fires.High-end counterfeit merchandise is very difficult to spot.Unless you’re an expert it’s really hard to tell.Consumer Reports advises shoppers to examine their products carefully and if something doesn’t seem right, report it to the store where you made the purchase and file a report with the local police.
Don’t get faked out by gadgets
China is the origin of 70 percent of counterfeit products seized globally. In the United States, the number is even higher at 87 percent. What is the harm done from counterfeit products? Most of the iPhones and counterfeit electronics originate in China but don’t make an assumption that all Chinese manufactured products are substandard. Apple has contracts with Chinese companies to build iPhones. Legitimate high-quality products as well as counterfeit products originate from China.
Counterfeit iPhones are big business.. They are built from units that were supposed to be destroyed. Other fake iPhones are actually android phones masquerading as legitimate iPhones. These fake iPhones are easier to detect. Checking the settings will reveal android settings. Fake phones may contain poisonous metals. The glass may shatter easier. Even genuine iPhones have issues but chances of problems are multiplied with fake iPhones.
http://www.lowellsun.com/business/ci_29325244/dont-get-faked-out-by-gadgets#ixzz3wH7yKlsy
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New York Loses $400 Million After Imposing The Nation’s Highest Cigarette Tax.
It holds the dubious honor of having the highest cigarette taxes in country, with the average pack of smokes in New York City costing as much as $10.60.It raised taxes on cigarettes to $4.35 in 2010 from $2.75. In total, cigarette taxes have increased by 190 percent since 2006.
The sharp rise has resulted in a raft of unintended consequences which are dealing a significant blow to the state’s finances, The illegal tobacco trade has a global reach with The Framework Convention Alliance (FCA), a coalition of anti-smoking groups organized by the World Health Organization to promote tobacco control globally, estimating that, “illicit trade in cigarettes represents approximately 10.7 percent of global sales, or 600 billion cigarettes annually,” and reduces government revenues by between $40 billion and $50 billion per year.
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Increase in tobacco taxes crushing business
Minnesota – Based on the two automatic tax inflators, the Department of Revenue has issued new 2016 rates under which Minnesota adult smokers will pay an astounding and near nation-leading $3.53 per pack.This is only going to make more businesses leave the state and make cigarette smuggling worse. Increasing taxes is not going to solve anything.
http://www.inforum.com/letters/3910874-letter-increase-tobacco-taxes-crushing-business
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