Saw this in my local paper today - £180k fake goods racket smashed

[dannyboy]

http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2015 ... t-smashed/

[mrs maggot]

nice one, i don't think people really think things through, what starts as something - just for a friend, then they print a few more, and before you know it - mind you would not mind 180k through paypal - i wonder if ebay can be prosecuted through gaining money through deception as well

[GoonerGary]

Type 'Frozen' into Etsy; thousands of hobby businesses run by mums who thought that they weren't doing anything wrong.

[socialgiraffe]

YAY, all three of those named are my clients LOL!!!

[viccar]

So all they got was 15mth suspended sentence? 120hours unpaid work and got to keep the 180k?

[GoonerGary]

So all they got was 15mth suspended sentence? 120hours unpaid work and got to keep the 180k?

That was for stealing a council laptop.

[viccar]

Nope was for all of it

Joanne Geddes, 42, previously admitted 23 offences relating to making and possessing items with intention to sell counterfeit goods, and one offence of money laundering between July 2011 and November 2012. Simon Geddes admitted 11 offences of aiding and abetting his wife to make counterfeit goods, and one offence of money laundering.

[GoonerGary]

It was tongue in cheek! The wink smiley doesn't work, but yes a lenient sentence, I wish they went to prison. I think we should start sending some ebayers this link, like a random counterfeiter of the week award.

[Karen.]

Nothing disgusts me more than this. We have an ever ongoing problem here with it. There are at least three other local businesses (all run from living rooms) who are churning out copyright material in the hundreds each week. The problem it brings is that the general public have no idea that they are dodgy illegal companies that have absolutely no scruples at all and when they are advertising locally all the personalised Disney/Football etc merchandise people will flock to them and then will also use them for the generic personalised items as well as they are known well locally. Anyone going into a business who does not search the legalities of it first is either full of bull or is so stupid that they shouldn't be in business in the first place, and anyone who falls for the 'naive' call is just as stupid.

[mrs maggot]

your right Karen, we have a few facebook pages round here, all offering to print up your favourite character, they seem to think that when you add "to Libby happy Birthday love Elsa" onto the photo of Elsa, you are turning it into your own artwork, and therefore not doing anything wrong. Mind you they seem to be coining it in, so maybe its us that are doing it wrong, and thats why we are not on holiday every year, or driving flash cars