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Trade News Archive 2010 January February March
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11th March 2010
'Massive' eBay counterfeiting operation busted
A multimillion-pound counterfeit operation that sold fake branded goods on eBay has been terminated by the authorities.
A London-based gang was found to have been selling counterfeit products ranging from golf clubs to memory sticks on the online auction site for a number of years, earning £2m between June 2003 and March 2008.
The gang's ringleader Gary Bellchambers has been sentenced to four years for fraud for a scam described as having a "truly global" reach.
Bill Adams, Havering council's principal trading standards officer, said that it was the biggest counterfeiting case he had come across, with those people who purchased golf clubs from the fraudster incurring the biggest financial losses.
He told the Guardian: "We are pleased that this gang has got what it deserved. It made millions of pounds selling fake golf clubs to people all over the world.
"Each customer was ripped off by up to £100 per club. I'd never heard of such a massive counterfeiting operation."
The outfit was discovered after a women complained to trading standards. She had initially tried to contact Bellchambers directly, but he failed to reply as he was on holiday.
© 2010
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