7 held over fake washing powder
Sars officials and Joburg police cleaned up a dirty operation in Doornfontein on Wednesday night, seizing about R300 000 in fake soap powder. At the run-down warehouse, officials found green canvas bags of soap powder labelled “Neutralizer – wash car” being emptied out, weighed and repackaged as Omo and Sunlight soap. Effectively, soap for washing cars was apparently being sold as laundry soap.Soap powder covered the floor.A pile of empty green canvas bags showed how much counterfeit soap powder had been processed through the operation. Heavy canvas bags, stamped with English and Oriental writing, held the brightly coloured brand-new plastic Omo and Sunlight packets, ready for filling. The Omo and Sunlight packets had English, French and Portuguese details on them, and expiry dates of 2016. A customs official, who did not wish to be named, said they had received a tip-off from someone who had seen a truck leaving the premises. Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini of the Gauteng SAPS said seven people who were working on the repackaging were taken in for questioning. He said six were Malawian and one was Zimbabwean. “They’ve got asylum papers, but we are still going to check the papers to see if they are genuine,” said Dlamini. “They said that they’ve been in this place for about three months.” He estimated the value of the soap, scales and bag-sealing machines seized at about R300 000.
http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/7-held-over-fake-washing-powder-1.1482388#.UTiqOhy1chE
Lear MoreMillions worth of fake Louis Vuitton products seized in Cebu
Customs agents on Wednesday seized P100 million worth of fake Louis Vuitton signature bags and accessories from a fashion store inCebuCity.The confiscation was a response to a letter of complaint sent by the lawyer of the country’s authorized dealer of Louis Vuitton products, according to Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon. “We will go after illegally imported goods no matter where they are and who are the people behind it,” said Biazon, who was in Cebu for the operation.The fake products were seized from a fashion store allegedly owned by a Korean national, according to theBureauofCustoms. While in Cebu, Biazon also inspected four container vans of smuggled sugar from Thailand worth P5 million that were seized earlier for not having the required import permit from the Sugar Regulatory Authority.The sugar seizure was effected by the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service in Cebu and was done amid an earlier seizure of 20 container vans of smuggled rice from Taiwan worth P10 million.
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Fake Hermès Bags Worth £10 Million Seized
Hundreds of counterfeit Hermèsbags were uncovered in LA last month, with a value of almost £10 million. US Customs and Borders Protection seized two shipments from China – and over 1,500 fake basgs – at the Long Beach port in February, worth $14.1 million (£9.36 million).”Once again this seizure demonstrates the high level of skill and vigilance of our officers in protecting the intellectual property rights of companies and individuals,” Todd Owen, director of CBP’s Los Angeles field office, toldWWD. “As well as preventing the proliferation of counterfeit luxury handbags, potentially damaging our national economy.”No arrests have yet been made in connection with the goods seized.In other news, German television network, Ante, has confirmed plans to screen a documentary tonight, centring around the brand’s heir, Patrick Guerrand-Hermès- despite a previous court injunction preventing the film from being shown.A Paris civil court ruled that the programme – which features details of an ongoing land ownership dispute in Morocco between the businessman and a local family – could not be broadcast “in its current form”, as it reveals his address and breaches his right to privacy, reportsWWD. A spokesperson for Arte confirmed that “the court ordered that certain scenes should be cut or blurred”.As the injunction was aimed at the production company, Epiphène Films, as opposed to the network, its believed that the documentary –Hercule contre Hermès(Hercules versus Hermès) – will be broadcast unaltered. The fashion house declined to comment.
Lear MoreFraud charges laid after Winnipegger buys fake jewelry
Winnipeg police have laid fraud charges against two people from Toronto suspected of travelling across the country selling counterfeit gold jewelry.According to police, officers began investigating in February, when a 26-year-old man was approached by two people who said they were in need of money and were willing to sell their gold jewelry for cheap.The man then bought several gold chains and rings and paid the pair $1,500.He later found the jewelry was only worth about $20 and contacted police.On Monday, police arrested two suspects at a hotel in the 1400 block of Niakwa Road.A 34-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman from Toronto are now facing fraud charges.Both remain in police custody.In December, Winnipeg police warned the public not to buy gold on the street, as they had received numerous complaints about people being approached to buy jewelry.Another public warning was issued in late February.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2013/03/06/mb-gold-fraud-arrests-winnipeg.html
Lear MoreCounterfeit BMW 5-Series kit is an easy sell in China
Copyright and international law aside, you’ve got to give Chinese knockoffs due credit for genuine effort.The latest copycat car, not to be confused with factory models thatexplicitly copy BMW X5s, is a grill and badge job applied to a new Brilliance H530, a Chinese-market sedan designed by Pininfarina.For $72, a Brilliance owner can buy a fakeBMWkidney grill, eight real BMW roundels and a “523i” nameplate that installs in minutes. The roundels replace the wheel caps, the steering wheel badge and even the Brilliance logo on the engine cover. At first glance, it’s surprisingly convincing, even with fake M graphic stripes painted on the hood.The price of the car itself? Just $13,000 to $20,000. A real BMW 523Li — the standard 523i isn’t sold in China — costs nearly $70,000.It may not be a coincidence. Brilliance has been building the BMW 5-Series in China since the two automakers signed a joint venture agreement in 2003. Speciallong-wheelbase versionsof compact and midsized cars, such as the BMW 335Li and 535Li, are sold only in China. And the H530, both in phonetics and appearance, starts off well enough as a fake 5-Series.Apparently, the Chinese website Taobao has counterfeit car kits from “hundreds of other small shops,” according to Tycho de Feyter, a Beijing-based blogger forCarNewsChina.com. In the U.S., the worst BMW counterfeit offenses are people sticking M badges on the backs of standard X5s and 3-Series, which end up fooling no one. Casual observers don’t know what M even means, and real BMW owners can spot a real M car a mile away. But in China, a BMW knockoff can stand a chance of gaining respect.BMW did not respond to questions for comments on the Brilliance kit. In 2007, BMWfought the Shuanghuan CEOfrom appearing at the Frankfurt Motor Show, butlost a European court caseagainst the company in 2008. Highlighting China’s flagrant disregard for property rights, many other automakers have tried and lost legal cases against Chinese copycat cars.
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Cadbury created fake factory to dodge taxes, India alleges
India’s tax authorities are accusing Cadbury’s Indian unitof pretending to manufacture candy at a plant in northern India and avoiding about $46 million in taxes.According to the Wall Street Journal(paywall), the country’s tax authorities say Cadbury’s India Ltd., owned by Mondelez International, faked invoices, purchase orders, and other documents to apply for a tax exemption available to new companies operating in thestate of imachal Pradesh.In an 103-page report, India’s directorate general of central excise intelligence accused over a dozen current and former Cadbury India executives as well as government licensing officials of participating in the scheme. The report said Cadbury has sold $591 million of its goods—namely,cocoadrink Bournvita and Cadbury Dairy Milk, a milk chocolate bar—without paying taxes on them.“We are in the process of reviewing the contents of the show-cause notice from the Excise Department and will respond to it under legal advice,” Mondelez spokesman Michael Mitchell told the Wall Street Journal. “We firmly believe our executives acted in good faith and based on legal advice,” he said. (Cadbury hasn’t responded to our request for comment.)According to the newspaper, officials said the plant could not have existed at the time of the deadline for the tax exemption, March 31, 2010. The company had not received a certificate to begin production at a new plant until Jan. 14, 2011, or a factory license until May 29, 2010.
http://qz.com/59432/cadbury-created-fake-factory-to-dodge-taxes-india-alleges-2/
Lear MoreComputers with counterfeit software cannot be protected
For every 10 computers in Thailand, eight are running counterfeit software infected with malware, according to Microsoft Southeast Asia. “Many people assume that buying a name brand PC guarantees protection from malicious software. But consumers need to beware that if they cannot verify that the computer they purchased shipped with a genuine copy of Windows software, they are potentially opening themselves up to significant risk,” Vipul Sant, director of Microsoft Asia-Pacific’s Genuine Software Initiative, said last week. The company studied name brand PCs with pirated software installed, as well as counterfeit software DVDs, from five countries in Southeast Asia – Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. About 70 per cent of the pirated DVDs and 84 per cent of the hard drives tested in Thailand were infected with malicious software. This is higher than the average malware infection rate of 69 per cent across the region. In 35 per cent of PCs examined from Thailand, the original hard-drive was replaced by a counterfeit hard-disk drive. On average for the region, hard-drive swapping was apparent on 28 per cent of the examined PCs. Vipul said at a press briefing in Bangkok that infected operating systems could seriously harm the performance of a PC and put personal data, such as contact details or bank data, at the risk of being exposed by hackers or criminals. “Customers deserve a name-brand experience, not a computer that crashes or is compromised in some way. This is why Microsoft is committed to educating the retailers, resellers and consumers on the benefits of using genuine software.” With Windows Update disabled, computer systems bypass genuine software checks and are also denied access to critical security updates, leaving them defenceless against malicious cyber-attacks, virus infections and hacking. Microsoft’s testing revealed 1,131 unique strains of malware and virus infections in its Southeast Asia sample including the highly dangerous “Zeus” Trojan. Zeus is a password-stealing trojan known to use “keylogging” and other mechanisms to monitor people’s online activity. Keyloggers record a user’s every keystroke in order to steal personal information, including account usernames and passwords. Criminals use this information to steal victims’ identities and access other private accounts. According to the RSA 2012 Cybercrime Trends Report, Zeus is estimated to have caused over US$1 billion in global losses in the last five years. The 2012 Norton Cybercrime Report shows that the global consumer cost of cybercrime is $100 billion annually, with an average per-victim impact of $197. Ian Guy Gillard, an executive vice president of Bangkok Bank, said using a computer infected with any malware, particularly a Trojan virus, is especially dangerous for online banking users. Hackers can gain full control of the computer and, in some circumstances, may withdraw money from customers’ bank accounts and make online purchases. This can happen on all computer platforms, including PC and mobile platforms. “In order to minimise the risk of being infected, we recommend our customers to take a few safety measures as detailed in our ‘Be SAFE online’ programme, including the use of genuine software only. Customers are responsible for ensuring the safety of the computers they use to access our services. That is why we support Microsoft in their positive outreach to educate consumers and businesses about the importance of using genuine software only,” he said. Chainarong Charoenchainao, deputy commander of the Economic Crime Division, said the division is in line with the National Police’s continuous actions to crack down on the use and sale of illegal software. Cybercriminals use malware for a range of invasive activities generating illegal profit from stealing consumers’ banking and credit card information to spamming their email and social media contacts with fraudulent requests for charitable donations or bogus offers such as for counterfeit prescription drugs. For businesses, the risks associated with using malware-infected, pirated software include low IT productivity, critical system failures and disruptions of service, and theft of confidential company data leading to severe financial loss and reputational harm.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/technology/Computers-with-counterfeit-software-cannot-be-prot-30201264.html
44 store owners charged; P362 M in counterfeit goods seized since January
At least 44 store owners have been charged with violations of intellectual property rights and hundreds of millions of pesos worth of counterfeit products, mostly cellphones and shoes, have been seized since the start of the year, according to the National Bureau of Investigation. NBI director Nonnatus Rojas said the raids on known counterfeit lairs conducted by the agency’s Intellectual Property Rights Division were in line with the government’s campaign to stop the proliferation in the country of various types of bootlegged merchandise through the enforcement of intellectual property laws. Recently the NBI was singled out by the director of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, Ricardo R. Blancaflor, for confiscating the biggest number of counterfeit goods being passed off under well-known and highly respected brands. Rojas said that in January alone the NBI seized more than P362 million worth of fake merchandise, mostly of them cellphones. He said among the areas raided by the IPRD agents were a factory on Taliba Street in San Rafael Village in Tondo which resulted in the confiscation of more than two million pieces of Snow Bear candy worth P2.4 million. He said that a warehouse on Del Monte Avenue in Quezon City yielded hundreds of thousands of counterfeit Nokia cell phones valued at P352 million. Raids on various known stores in Metro Manila netted more than P7 million in counterfeit foot wear. Rojas said the raids were covered by court orders based on complaints of owners of registered trademark owners or their representatives in the country. He added that almost all the complainants involved well-known brands manufactured abroad.
Lear MoreBiometric certificates to help track Ayurveda, Unani quacks
The Karnataka Ayurveda and Unani Practitioners Board has decided to distribute biometric registration certificates to doctors of these systems of medicine in a bid to crack down on quacks. The Board estimates the number of fake doctors in the State at more than one lakh. The Board, which came into existence in 1965, has so far distributed manual certificates to 33,000 doctors and they will soon get biometric ones. Distributing smart cards with biometric registration will help check the increasing number of fake doctors, say Board officials. The manual certificates, which had the doctor’s photo affixed, made it easy to duplicate them by replacing the photos. There is a huge racket operating in the State, selling fake certificates at Rs three lakh to Rs five lakh each.Fingerprints and digital signatures of doctors enrolling themselves with the Board are taken and their marks cards scanned. The doctors’ pictures are taken with the help of the computers. All documents are then barcoded. The certificates that are then generated will have a unique registration number, hologram, microprint, water mark logo , invisible logo, designed border and 2 D barcode. Kiran Kumar, Managing Director of the V Works Software, Bangalore, has developed the necessary software, at a cost of Rs five lakh. Doctors can get the barcoded certificates online also, through the website: www.kaupboard.karnataka.gov.in. The barcoded certificates can be got even on mobile phones which have internet connection. This will make it easy to crosscheck for fake ones. Board chairperson Dr Satyamurthy Bhat told Deccan Herald that they had taken such an initiative for the first time in the country, something that neither the Indian Medical Council nor the Karnataka Medical Council has done. Once the project is over, the Board will start raiding the clinics of fake doctors, he said.
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/316112/biometric-certificates-help-track-ayurveda.html
Lear MoreMillions in counterfeit luxury goods recovered, six arrested
Atlanta police arrested six men accused of selling about $5 million in counterfeit goods at a local market. The men had individual shops at the West End Market on Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard, and police recovered items mimicking brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, Michael Kors, Nike, True Religion and Air Jordans. Stacie Gibbs, with the Atlanta Police Department, said officers made arrests on Friday afternoon. “We had complaints from citizens and people in the neighborhood about the amount of counterfeit products that were being sold out of here,” Gibbs said. “So, we had our own Atlanta police officers come in here. There were some undercover purchases made of illegal, counterfeit items.” Police arrested Aliou Diallo, Samba Ba, Bockarie Jalloh, Mohamed Diallo, Macky Traore and Asdo Chukwu. Most of them were charged with selling forged or counterfeited items. Mohamed Diallo was charged with reproduction of recorded material. They were all still in the Fulton County Jail as of Saturday. Gibbs said representatives from the various brands that were allegedly counterfeited came to verify whether or not the goods were actually fake. “It’s important to remember that all of these items are being sold legitimately throughout Atlanta,” Gibbs said. “This takes away from businesses that are selling legitimate items and doing things that they are supposed to.”
http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/21445728/millions-in-counterfeit-luxury-goods-recovered-six-arrested
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