Man fined over £683k for selling fakes on Lincolnshire market

A man has been ordered this week to pay over £683,000 for selling fake goods on a Lincolnshire market.

Iftakhar Ahmed (41) from Walsall and his two sons were handed prison sentences in February 2015 at Lincoln Crown Court for selling counterfeit clothing in Lincolnshire.

He was running two market stalls in Fantasy Island, Ingoldmells with the help of his twin sons Hasan and Asad Iftakhar (23).

Back in 2011, Nike discovered that copies of their trainers were being sold in significant quantities from Trainerz4U and 350 Sea Lane.

They joined forces with Lincolnshire Trading Standards, Lincolnshire Police and representatives from Adidas to raid the market stalls, seizing enough counterfeit clothing to fill two 40ft shipping containers.

Trading Standards continued to monitor the stalls, while further investigations were being carried out, and found more fakes just one year later, infringing the trademarks of Hunter, Vivienne Westwood, Superdry, Armani, Jack Wills, Hollister, Barbour, Tom’s and others.

Another raid was carried out in August 2014 and over 200 items were confiscated.

Alan Griffin, Trading Standards Officer, said: “This kind of offending is not just a small crime and it undermines real companies. It affects their trade so it affects legitimate jobs.

“It is also likely the sort of goods they were selling were produced in sweat shops around the world where children are being exploited.

Iftakhar Ahmed, Asad Iftakhar and Hasan Iftakhar were handed prison sentences of two years and six months, 12 months and six months respectively.

Further to sentencing, a confiscation application was made against Iftakhar Ahmed at Lincoln Crown Court on Tuesday, December 22, 2015.

Having considered the monetary value of his crime, as well as his available assets, Iftakhar Ahmed was ordered to repay £683,144.00.

He must pay the full amount within three months or face a five-year prison sentence, with the amount payable increasing with interest during this time, potentially leading to further prison sentences.

In his judgment, His Honourable Judge Heath confirmed that the crime “was no small operation” and “that the defendant had not provided compelling evidence in relation to expenditure” in order to reduce the amount payable.

Alan Griffin, trading standards officer at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 allows us to work with the police to pursue the assets of those who deal in counterfeit trademark goods, recouping the profits they have made from their criminal activities, in addition to any sentence they have received. We are committed to using this legislation to target those who are benefiting from their crimes in Lincolnshire.”