UK trio sentenced in fake designer goods case

A shopkeeper peddling counterfeit goods and two accomplices have been sentenced after police seized over £1m ($1.1m) worth of fake designer products from the basement of a fast food shop in Manchester, UK.

Fraidon Wadood (40) was sentenced to two years, suspended for 18 months, and 200 hours of community service. Moshtagh Hashimi got 39 weeks in prison – also suspended for 18 months with 200 hours of community service, while Imran Jabarkhail (21) received 30 weeks suspended for 18 months and 50 hours’ community service. All three pleaded guilty to distributing articles infringing trademarks.

Officers from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at City of London Police raided the shop in October 2020 and April 2021, seizing a combined total of 11,095 counterfeit items including clothing, watches, jewelry and perfume.

Wadood – who went by the alias of Pablo, a nod to notorious organised crime kingpin Pablo Escobar – rented the basement unit and had set it up as a shop, while Hashimi and Jabarkhail served customers. The average price for the items sold was around $25, suggesting that the seized items alone could have netted the gang more than £275,000.

The counterfeit goods seized from the unit will now be recycled.