A Birmingham man has been jailed after officers seized a haul of fake designer clothes, perfume and accessories – including Beats by Dr. Dre headphones. Images showed a huge number of boxes stacked inside a unit built into a Digbeth car park.
Mohammed Shafiq, from Poplar Avenue in Balsall Heath, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply counterfeit goods. The 46-year-old was sentenced on January 2 at Birmingham Crown Court having previously admitted the single count.
Sentencing Shafiq to four-and-a-half years, Judge Avik Mukherjee described Shafiq, who has previous convictions for similar matters, as a ‘serial offender’ and described the activity as ‘organised crime’ and ‘counterfeiting on an industrial scale’.
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The sentence followed an investigation by the National Trading Standards West Midlands Investigations Team, which has been probing counterfeiters across the Midlands. Shafiq was prosecuted after fake branded clothes, perfumes, cosmetics, accessories and electrical items were found in a unit built into the car park at Elite House on Warwick Street.
Counterfeit hats
Also found in the unit were assorted trademarked labels and machinery to apply them onto ‘plain’ items. This seizure took place in January 2019, and Shafiq was found to be renting the unit. He had provided a copy of his passport as part of the rental process.
In December 2020, Shafiq was caught driving a van load of counterfeit goods from Coventry to Wellesbourne Market in Warwickshire. The van, which was being driven on cloned plates, contained items similar to those recovered from the base in Digbeth.
Fake Beats by dr dre
Lord Michael Bichard, Chair of National Trading Standards, said: “Counterfeiting misleads consumers into parting with hard earned money for fake products, but the practice also puts victims at risk of even greater harm than financial loss.
“Aside from being poor quality, fake electrical goods can be a fire hazard, while fake cosmetics, perfumes and beauty products can contain harmful ingredients as criminals don’t care about safety standards. Even fake designer clothes and accessories cause huge harm as the trade props up organised crime.
“We’re proud to have supported this investigation – one of the largest ever undertaken in the West Midlands – and we urge people to be vigilant and report any examples of sales of counterfeit goods by calling the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133.”