Counterfeit gear given to charity

8:25am Monday 30th June 2008

Comments (9)   Have your say »

A market trader who has persistently flouted counterfeiting laws by repeatedly selling fake designer clothing has been ordered to do hundreds of hours of community service.

Wandsworth trading standards officers caught Ahmed Alabudi selling fake goods on three occasions.

But after each raid he has simply restocked his market stalls with more pirated clothing.

Magistrates heard that in February 2007 undercover investigators purchased counterfeit Nike trainers, an Armani t-shirt and a Gucci handbag from his stall at Tooting's Broadway Market.

A short time later the stall was raided and 362 items of fake and counterfeit clothing were seized.

As the trading standards investigation continued, officers quickly learned that Mr Alabudi had restocked his stall with more pirate goods.

In May 2007 a second raid was staged and this time a further 404 counterfeit pieces of merchandise were seized.

In February of this year trading standards officers learned that he was again selling fakes and once more raided stalls he ran at the market. On this occasion 689 counterfeit items were discovered and taken away.

Last month, Mr Alabudi pleaded guilty at South Western magistrates court to 15 charges under the Trade Marks Act.

The court heard that if the seized goods had been sold, the potential loss to the authentic companies would have been in the region of £140,000.

Mr Alabudi was ordered to carry out 100 hours of community service for the offences in 2007 and 160 hours for those this year.

He was also ordered to pay £4,500 towards the council's prosecution costs and all of the seized goods were forfeited.

The forfeited clothing will be given to charities which will remove all the fake logos, trademarks and brand names and then distribute the garments to the needy in the developing world.

Wandsworth consumer protection spokesman Malcolm Grimston said: "People may think they are getting a bargain if they are able to buy a shirt or a pair of jeans with some trendy designer label at much less than they would pay for the real thing.

"But the reality is that these clothes are complete rip-offs. They will be cheaply made and of vastly inferior quality. Often these garments fall apart very quickly or the print on shirts and t-shirts fades away to nothing after just one wash.

"It is also worth bearing in mind that many of the people involved in the illicit production of these pirate goods use the profits to finance much more serious crimes including fraud, people smuggling, drugs and prostitution..

"We will not hesitate to take tough action to stamp out this trade in Wandsworth. We will do all we can to stop consumers being ripped-off."