Electric motorbike counterfeiting ring busted in Vietnam

The Hanoi Economic Police Division in Vietnam has initiated criminal proceedings against three people suspected of being involved in a criminal ring producing counterfeit electric motorbikes.

The trio are under investigation for manufacturing and trading in counterfeit goods, according to the VNExpress news service, which says they ran their operation out of a company located in Bac Ninh Province in the north of the country and infringed the intellectual property of multiple brand owners.

Once assembled, the copycat vehicles were distributed to various shops in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, complete with falsified documents intended to legitimise their origin. The bikes were sold at a local price of up to VND 4 million (around $150) and are thought to have netted the counterfeiters an estimated VND 1 billion ($38,225).

A raid on the premises resulted in the seizure of 100 bikes that are suspected of being counterfeit and potentially hazardous, along with various machines and equipment used in production.

One major concern with the trade in counterfeit electric vehicles is the risk of substandard lithium-ion batteries being used in their production that can overheat, catch fire, or even explode, potentially causing serious injury or property damage.

In Vietnam, there are over 65 million registered motorcycles, equivalent to a vehicle for two-thirds of the population, according to Statista.

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