Surelock

Surelock work closely on behalf of our clients with Trading Standards Services all over UK and the work we do often results in prosecutions and Court proceedings, here are two very excellent results from our work with Brent and Harrow Trading Standards:-

Two Traders Sentenced for Selling Fake Goods

Two traders caught selling fake goods pleaded guilty and were sentenced at Harrow Crown Court on 6^th August 2010 for a number of trade mark offences. 

Habib Melloul (aged 28) of Shrewsbury Street, Kensington and Chelsea was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and ordered to pay £2,000 in prosecution costs to the London Boroughs of Brent & Harrow Trading Standards Service. 

His wife, Aisha Melloul (aka Caryl Hubbard), aged 28, who was also involved in the business, was given a six month prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered to perform 80 hours of unpaid community work. In addition, she was ordered to pay £3,000 towards the cost of the prosecution,

The court heard Habib Melloul and Aisha Melloul were jointly involved in the purchase, storing and onward distribution of counterfeit shoes, clothing and bags.  The goods were sold at Wembley and Portobello markets and on e-Bay and Amazon websites.

Court Confiscates £254,000 from Counterfeit Goods Dealer

On Monday 23rd August 2010 at Inner London Crown Court, Brent & Harrow Trading Standards Service secured the confiscation of £254,000 from Nazakat Hussain after he was caught dealing in counterfeit goods from Wembley Market. His Honor Judge Chapple made the order for this confiscation under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and gave him six months to pay up.

Confiscation proceedings were instituted last year following the successful conviction of Mr Hussain by Brent & Harrow Trading Standards Service, which resulted in him being sentenced to two years in prison for supplying counterfeit goods from stalls at Wembley market. The Trading Standards Service used the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, which came into force to strip criminals of their ill gotten gains, to expose Mr Hussain’s finances and assets over a six year period. These detailed investigations revealed that Mr Hussain owned three houses, a business premise, a six series convertible BMW and that he had thousands of pounds in various bank accounts. All of these assets were then subject to restraint orders imposed by Brent & Harrow Trading Standards Service in order to prevent them from disappearing.

 During the hearing on 23rd August 2010, the court accepted that Mr Hussain had benefited to the value of £600,000 from his criminal activities and that the amount available to him to pay was £254,000.

 Mr Hussain will now have to pay the order in full within the next six months or he will face serving a default prison sentence, which was set at 3 years. Should he serve a term in prison in default for non payment of the order, he would still owe the full amount. Furthermore, any outstanding balance after the six months deadline would start attracting interest.

A joint operation between Hertfordshire Trading Standards and Hertfordshire Constabulary at Bovingdon Market led to what is believed to be the biggest ever seizure of counterfeit goods in the county.

The seizure of clothes, shoes and CDs was made from 11 stalls on Saturday (March 6). The fake brands being sold included High Street names such as Nike, Adidas, D&G, Fred Perry, DKNY, Ecko, Ed Hardy, Christian Audigier, True Religion, Ugg, Armani, Gucci, Dior, Levis, Moschino, and Prada. The items are still being counted, so the street value of the haul has yet to be estimated.

Stallholders will now be interviewed and face prosecution. Offenders face unlimited fines or up to 10 years in prison.

The seizure follows a similar operation in November, when more than 5,500 counterfeit CDs and DVDs were seized from three stalls at the market.

Keith Emsall, Executive Member for Community Safety and Culture, said: “Hertfordshire County Council’s Trading Standards Service see tackling intellectual property crime as a priority. Not only do consumers get ripped off, it also hurts legitimate local businesses – many of whom are already struggling in the current economic climate.

“It’s extremely disappointing that Bovingdon Market continues to be a source of illegal goods. We will continue to work with our partners to tackle the problems at the market and would like to thank the police for their assistance on Saturday.”

Sgt Tessa Barrow, of Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Hemel Neighbourhood team, said: “This was a tremendous effort between ourselves and trading standards to tackle the sale of counterfeit goods at Bovingdon market. Operations like this are conducted to protect the public and I would urge anyone who may have any suspicions about the sale of counterfeit goods to contact police on 0845 33 00 222, or alternatively Crimestoppers in confidence on 0800 555 111.”

Members of the public can also report sales of counterfeit goods to Consumer Direct on 08454 040506. Hertfordshire businesses needing advice should contact Hertfordshire Trading Standards’ business advice line on 01727 813849.

Surelock operatives worked closely with Hertfordshire Trading Standards gathering intelligence that identified the worst stalls and stall holders who were targeted on the day.