News October 2006
Hackney scoops half million from fashion fraudster
Hot on the heels of its £300,000 victory over Nike, Hackney Council has scooped a cool half million from a local fraudster, Siraj Patel, caught trading in counterfeit shoes and tracksuits. Mr Patel, who sold fake Timberlands and Akademic gear, was sentenced for selling counterfeit clothes at Southwark Crown Court today.
Patel was jailed for 18 months and fined £1.1 million. Hackney Council is due to get half the cash as a reward from the Government for bringing the case to Court. This is the biggest ever award of its kind for a Trading Standards operation.
The case against Mr Patel was brought by Hackney Council under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The act incentivises local councils to pursue crooks by offering them half of any fines set by the Courts.
Cllr Alan Laing , Hackney's Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods said
'The sheer size of this fine and the sentence shows what a huge operation Mr Patel was running. This is a great result and shows what Trading Standards can achieve for local people. Mr Patel was ripping off his customers, as well as ripping off Timberland and Akademic. Just as the Nike case showed us protecting our brand, this shows us helping others protect theirs through Trading Standards action.
The people of Hackney will benefit to the tune of half a million pounds and this should deter other fraudsters from taking advantage of consumers in this way.'
Page updated: 28 Feb 2007