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Date: 28/04/2008
Location: Birmingham
Three men have been jailed for their part in running a DVD counterfeiting factory, following an investigation by FACT and Birmingham Trading Standards. Jin He, aged 28, and Wen Yi He, aged 26, were each sentenced to 15 months in prison and Feng He, aged 26, was given four months. All three pleaded guilty to offences under the Trade Marks Act at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday 28th April 2008.
In a joint operation between FACT, Trading Standards and the West Midlands Police, a counterfeiting operation was found at a house in Hubert Road, Selly Oak. Thirty DVD burners were being used to produce thousands of counterfeit discs, some not yet released in cinemas, as well as large quantities of pornographic and Bollywood titles.
The three men, all Chinese nationals of no fixed address, were arrested at the premises. Officers later discovered a distribution centre at a nearby house in Oak Tree Lane, Selly Oak.
It is estimated the loss to legitimate business was in excess of £200,000, the court heard. The £4,000 cash seized at Hubert Road was ordered to be confiscated under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
On 24th March 2008 officers from Warwickshire Trading Standards and Police Services attended a Bank Holiday Market in Warwickshire. Whilst there, they identified a stall selling counterfeit clothing, razors and DVDs. The 4 stallholders were arrested and 4,500 counterfeit DVDs were amongst the items seized.
Date: 28/07/2007 Location: Brownhills, West Midlands
A Police and Trading Standards led operation on Brownhills Market resulted in four males being arrested for selling counterfeit DVDs from their stalls. Upon their arrest, one of the males tried to resist and ended up assaulting one of the police officers. He was also arrested for this offence.
In early March of this year a suspicious vehicle was stopped by Staffordshire Police driving through a burglary watch neighbourhood. The vehicle was searched by Police and counterfeit DVDs were found. It quickly transpired that the driver was driving without a license or insurance for the vehicle. Staffordshire Police are currently making enquiries into possible linked burglaries in the area.
Associated crime types: Driving without a valid license or insurance
