Fake goods couple sentenced

A Rochdale couple have pleaded guilty to charges relating to the possession of £300,000 of counterfeit clothing and money laundering. The pair, of Eastbourne Street, Rochdale, appeared at Bolton Crown Court.

Mahmood Sultan, 33, and his wife Shazia Sultan, 34 were identified as selling counterfeit goods using various trading names on the internet auction site eBay.

Following a lengthy investigation, Trading Standards Officers from Rochdale Borough Council discovered numerous cartons containing fake designer clothing and footwear displaying registered trade marks, including Prada and Versace, in storage units in Rochdale. Officers subsequently searched Mr Sultan’s vehicle and home address, and found further items of counterfeit clothing together with invoice books containing details of sales and customer addresses. In total over 1700 items were seized.

Further investigation revealed that the Sultan’s had withdrawn over £475,000 from their PayPal accounts over an 18 month period, and it was accepted in court that the value of their trading in illegitimate goods amounted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

The pair pleaded guilty to 17 and 16 specimen charges respectively, relating to the sale and possession of counterfeit goods and other charges relating to money laundering. Mahmood Sultan was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment on each count to run concurrently. Shazia Sultan was sentenced to eight months imprisonment, suspended for 2 years, with a Supervision Order also imposed.

Andy Glover from Rochdale Borough Council sent out a warning to others dealing in counterfeit goods: “Counterfeiters in Rochdale have been warned. If you carry on with your illegal activities, you will pay a heavy price in court.”

The financial investigation is ongoing and a hearing is to be held in April 2009 with a view to the Sultan’s repaying the money made from their counterfeit sales.