eBay fakes cost Rochdale couple half a million

The Sultan’s warehouse of counterfeit goods.

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A Rochdale couple who were convicted of trading counterfeit goods on eBay have been ordered to pay back £552,000.

Mahmood Sultan and his wife Shazia, of Eastbourne Street, were given the confiscation order during a hearing at Bolton Crown Court last month under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Mr Sultan, 34, having benefited by £270,000 from his criminality, was ordered to pay all his available assets of £41,235 within the next six months or face twelve months behind bars. He will also have to pay back the rest of the £270,000 from any future assets.

Similarly, Mrs Sultan, 35, having benefited by £282,000 from her criminality, was ordered to pay all her available assets of £105,000 within the next six months or face eighteen months behind bars. She will also have to pay back the rest of the £282,000.

The couple were ordered to pay £12,000 each towards the prosecution costs.

The convictions and fines come after a successful investigation by Rochdale Council’s trading standards officers.

Andy Glover, Public Protection Manager at Rochdale Council, said: “I’m thrilled we’ve managed to gain such a significant conviction. The Sultans were trading illegitimately and profiting massively from their illegal activity.

“Whilst fake goods are generally cheaper than the real thing, these cheap imitations are normally of poor quality and in some cases potentially dangerous – electrical items for example.

“By applying a trade mark to goods, the illegitimate retailer is using the brand to increase their saleability, therefore exploiting the reputation and goodwill of the trade mark holder. As a result the illegitimate retailer makes no investment in quality control, research and development or marketing, so they have no concern for establishing a reputation for quality products. In buying fake goods you also lose your legal rights as a customer.

“People must realise that jobs are being lost through this type crime. Our honest local retailers and manufacturers must be protected.”

The Sultans were convicted in December 2008, following a prosecution taken by the council’s legal team. Mahmood Sultan and his wife pleaded guilty to 17 and 16 charges respectively, relating to the sale and possession of counterfeit clothing, footwear and sunglasses, and other charges relating to money laundering the proceeds of their crimes. The offences contravened the Trade Marks Act 1994 and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Mahmood Sultan was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment on each count to run concurrently. Shazia Sultan was sentenced to eight months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, with a 12 month Supervision Order also imposed. A forfeiture order was also obtained so that trading standards officers could dispose of all the seized counterfeit items.

Rochdale Council’s trading standards officers began investigating the couple in November 2005 after carrying out an auction site audit to help them identify counterfeit sellers.

Mr and Mrs Sultan were both identified as selling counterfeit goods using various trading names on the eBay internet auction site. Trademark representatives for ‘Lacoste’ made an online test purchase of footwear from one of their accounts, which confirmed that the goods were fakes.

Trading standards officers executed an entry warrant in August 2006 at the Sultan’s storage units in Regal House, Miall Street, and discovered numerous cartons containing imitation designer clothing and footwear including ‘Paul & Shark’, ‘Fred Perry’, ‘Lacoste’, ‘Henri-Lloyd’, ‘Prada’, ‘Timberland’, ‘Nike’, ‘Stone Island’ and ‘Versace’. A large number of postage sacks, postage labels and ‘customer’ details were also found within the units.

The officers then searched the Sultan’s vehicle and home address, finding further items of counterfeit clothing, sunglasses and numerous invoice books containing details of sales.

In total over 1700 items of clothing, sunglasses and footwear were seized by the officers, all confirmed to be counterfeit by the relevant brand owners and were estimated to have a retail value of over £200,000.

Further investigations revealed Mahmood and Shazia Sultan had withdrawn over £475,000 from their PayPal accounts over an 18 month period, and it was accepted in court that the value of their trading in illegitimate goods amounted to £300,000.

Councillor Ted Flynn, cabinet member for Community Safety at Rochdale Council added: “This is a fantastic result. It’s also a testament to all the officers who have worked tirelessly on this lengthy investigation, gathering vital evidence to secure such an important conviction.”