Pictured: Rolex watch (the real thing)
A Bonnybridge man will spend 15 months in prison after being convicted of supplying fake goods, after an operation by Falkirk Council trading standards officers.
37-year-old Conroy Lindsay sold fake watches, fragrances, shoes and clothing between 2017 and 2019.
Lindsay was caught after Falkirk Council’s Trading Standards team investigated a Gumtree account advertising watches. A test purchase revealed the operation, and Lindsay’s home was raided.
Fakes
He’d bought the fake items from Chinese-based companies offering counterfeit goods, paying £7,430 for items that, had they been real, would have been worth £650,145.
Lindsay was sentenced to 15 months in jail at Falkirk Sheriff Court on Thursday 25 August 2022.
The court heard that, between August 2017 and June 2019, Lindsay was selling - and trying to sell - counterfeit goods on platforms such as Instagram and Gumtree.
His knock-off items were almost identical, or likely to be mistaken for, high-end brands like Rolex, Ray Ban, Christian Louboutin, Hublot, Omega, Givenchy, Fendi, Louis Vuitton and Tag Heuer.
Trading Standards
The Trading Standards team were quick off the mark to identify and report the counterfeit case, which concluded following a guilty plea by Lindsay.
Lindsay was identified following a Scotland-wide project to identify consumer protection and intellectual property crimes on social media platforms and marketplaces.
The Bonnybridge offender appeared at Falkirk Sheriff Court in June and was informed he faced a jail sentence and potential fine after he pleaded guilty to contravening the 1994 Trade Marks Act, as reported in the Falkirk Herald.
Kirstie Crosson, Falkirk Council’s Trading Standards Co-ordinator, said: “This conviction is another warning to those involved in the sale of illicit goods.
“We’re committed to finding and prosecuting those who persist in this illegal activity.
“Counterfeit goods are unsafe, unreliable and harm legitimate businesses.
“We take the supply of such goods seriously and we’ll do everything in our power to tackle the supply to protect our residents.”
Counterfeit goods are unsafe and dangerous for consumers, as they are often produced without regard to EU or UK safety standards.
Members of the public are encouraged to play their part in helping Forth Valley/Falkirk Trading Standards to keep counterfeit products off the streets by reporting anything suspicious
This article was updated on 18 October 2022 for factual accuracy.